Coinbase’s Costly Comedy: When Insider Mischief Meets $400 Million Cleanup
Coinbase’s recent data breach affected 69,461 customers, thanks to some rogue contractors who swapped insider wrongdoing for quick cash. No funds were touched, but Coinbase’s remediation bill could hit $400 million. On the bright side, affected users get free credit monitoring and $1 million in identity-theft insurance.
Hot Take:
Coinbase just pulled a Houdini—avoiding a $20 million ransom demand while simultaneously discovering that “less than one percent” of its users is actually a whopping 69,461 customers. That’s right, folks, because nothing says Merry Christmas like an insider data breach that starts on December 26th and goes unnoticed for nearly five months. And while Coinbase claims its financial coffers remained untouched, it seems their PR department might need a little extra cash to handle this one!
Key Points:
– Coinbase refused to pay a $20 million ransom after a data breach linked to an insider leak.
– Approximately 69,461 customers were affected, despite initial claims of less than one percent.
– The breach began on December 26, 2024, and was discovered on May 11, 2025.
– Stolen data included names, addresses, phone numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.
– Coinbase is offering affected users credit monitoring, identity-theft insurance, and reimbursements for duped crypto transactions.