Coinbase | Crypto

“This normalizes crypto exposure in conservative portfolios that might otherwise avoid digital assets,” said Bitpace’s Meryem Habibi. This past week, Coinbase joined the S&P 500, one of the world’s most elite stock indexes — a triumph for the crypto firm, which spent much of the 2020s battling US government agencies like the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission for its survival.  But this attainment is not about one company alone.  “This is more than an achievement for Coinbase; it’s a landmark for the broader crypto and blockchain industry,” said Meryem Habibi, chief revenue officer of Bitpace. Coinbase joining the S&P 500 doesn’t just boost the owner of the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. “It cements the legitimacy of an entire asset class,” she told Cointelegraph.  Read more

A complaint filed with the Maine Attorney General's office also alleges the attack was only discovered six months after it occurred. A recent filing with Maine’s attorney general sheds new light on Coinbase’s data breach, claiming that nearly 70,000 users were impacted and that the incident went unnoticed for nearly six months. According to the filing submitted by legal firm Latham and Watkins LLP, 69,461 Coinbase users were compromised by the breach, 217 of whom are residents of the US state of Maine. The document also indicates the breach occurred on Dec. 26, 2024, but was only discovered on May 11, 2025 — nearly six months following the cybersecurity incident. Read more

Coinbase is facing sharp criticism and regulatory pressure after confirming a significant data breach that exposed personal information of nearly 70,000 users. According to a filing with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, the breach affected 69,461 individuals, of whom 217 were residents of Maine. The exchange also stated that the compromise affected less than 1% […] The post Coinbase under fire for massive data breach affecting nearly 69,461 users appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Brian Armstrong recently said it's "not [his] place" to question Donald Trump's ties to crypto, but the CEO, like many in the industry, has been getting more political. Five years ago, Brian Armstrong wanted employees of his cryptocurrency exchange to refrain from expressing political views at work. Now, the Coinbase CEO seems to be open to involvement with Republican figures, including members of US President Donald Trump’s inner circle. In a May 13 X post, Armstrong said members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, spearheaded by Elon Musk, though not set up as an actual department, would be welcome to implement cost-cutting changes at Coinbase after leaving the US government. Armstrong offered to set up an accelerated onboarding process with the exchange, responding to an interview in which at least one DOGE staffer felt ostracized from Harvard University, where he had been enrolled. Read more

The leaked home addresses of Coinbase users raise significant concerns amid increasing crypto-related crimes in 2025. A recent data breach at crypto exchange Coinbase has raised concerns about user safety after hackers gained access to sensitive information, including home addresses. Coinbase, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, confirmed that less than 1% of its transacting monthly users were affected in an attack that may cost the exchange up to $400 million in reimbursement expenses, Cointelegraph reported on May 15. However, the “human cost” of this data breach may be much higher for users, according to Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch and Arrington Capital. Read more

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating how attackers infiltrated Coinbase in their recent customer data breach incident, Bloomberg News reported on May 19, citing a person familiar with the matter. Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal confirmed the company is cooperating with federal law enforcement and intends to pursue legal action against those […] The post DOJ launches probe into Coinbase’s insider-driven data leak appeared first on CryptoSlate.

US officials are reportedly investigating a data breach that caused many social engineering attacks against Coinbase users and prompted a slew of lawsuits. The US Department of Justice is reportedly conducting a probe over Coinbase’s contracted customer service agents in India, who accepted bribes in exchange for allowing criminals access to user data. According to a May 19 Bloomberg report, DOJ investigators are looking into the data breach, which Coinbase disclosed to the public on May 15. The exchange reported that a group of customer support contractors — subsequently fired — “abused their access to [...] systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers.” “We have notified and are working with the DOJ and other US and international law enforcement agencies and welcome law enforcement’s pursuit of criminal charges against these bad actors,” said Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, according to Bloomberg. Read more

Circle is reportedly seeking a sale price of at least $5 billion, which would be around the amount it’s targeting for its IPO. Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USDC (USDC), is still planning an initial public offering (IPO), but the company is also in informal talks with Ripple and Coinbase about a sale, according to a report from Fortune. Circle is seeking at least $5 billion, which is its target for the IPO, according to the four banking and private equity sources Fortune cited. Ripple tried to purchase Circle on April 30, but the $4 billion to $5 billion bid was rejected as being too low. If Ripple or Coinbase were to buy Circle, the details of a purchase would differ. Ripple would pay using cash and XRP (XRP), a cryptocurrency that Ripple created. Coinbase, on the other hand, would use cash and stock. Read more

Circle is pressing ahead with plans to go public, but the stablecoin issuer is also exploring the possibility of a sale to either Coinbase or Ripple, Fortune reported on May 19, citing people familiar with the matter. The company filed paperwork in April for a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) targeting a $5 billion valuation, […] The post Circle in talks with Coinbase, Ripple over potential sale amid $5B IPO plans appeared first on CryptoSlate.

A retired fabricator was tricked into entering his seed phrase on a fake Coinbase site, losing a crypto portfolio worth $2 million. Retired artist Ed Suman lost over $2 million in cryptocurrency earlier this year after falling victim to a scam involving someone posing as a Coinbase support representative. Suman, 67, spent nearly two decades as a fabricator in the art world, helping build high-profile works such as Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sculptures, according to a May 17 report by Bloomberg. After retiring, he turned to cryptocurrency investing, eventually accumulating 17.5 Bitcoin (BTC) and 225 Ether (ETH) — a portfolio that comprised most of his retirement savings. Read more

Details associated with Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha’s Coinbase account were reportedly compromised in an attack affecting “less than 1%” of the exchange’s monthly users. At least one partner at Sequoia Capital was reportedly impacted by the recent data breach among Coinbase users, suggesting that data from others at the venture capital firm may also have been compromised. According to a May 16 Bloomberg report, Sequoia Capital Managing Partner Roelof Botha’s personal information available through his Coinbase account was stolen after a group of cybercriminals bribed the exchange’s support agents for access to user data. Though Botha had not publicly disclosed his net worth, estimates suggested he had hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Coinbase disclosed the data breach in a May 15 blog post, saying that some of its users had been targeted with social engineering attacks after the criminals had access to their personal account information. The company said the group attempted to extort $20 mil...

Coinbase faces a $400 million phishing bill after cybercriminals managed to bribe overseas support agents to expose the personal data of the exchange’s users. News broke on May 15 that Coinbase was the target of a $20 million extortion attempt after cybercriminals recruited overseas support agents to leak user data for social engineering scams. While less than 1% of Coinbase’s active monthly users were reportedly affected, the expected remediation and reimbursement expenses range from $180 million to $400 million, as the exchange pledged to repay all phishing attack victims. Despite the attack on the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, investor sentiment remains optimistic, with the Fear & Greed Index remaining firmly in the “Greed” zone above 69, according to CoinMarketCap data. Read more

Coinbase user Data Hacked, FTX Repayments Coming, Bond Yields soar FOMO HOUR EP359 Hackers demand $20m after Coinbase data hacked. SEC probes Coinbase on inflating user numbers. FTX to begin $5b distribution on May 30. Wisconsin Investment Board exits BTC ETF. China’s DDC Enterprise to adopt BTC reserves. China’s Addentax to buy 8k BTC. Brazil’s Meliuz buys $28.4m BTC for reserve. BTC to $1m, altcoins with products will win: Hayes. BTC has more upside potential than gold: JPM. SEC releases FAQs on broker-dealer transfer rules. BlackRock integrates BUIDL with Euler. Sonic Labs to liquidate Multichain Foundation. Nasdaq grants extension on 21Shares DOT ETF. ADA ETF approval 55% likely this year. Tether’s freeze mechanism has loophole: AMLBot. US DoJ indicts 12 for $263m crypto theft. US DoJ to charge Tornado Cash’s Roman. CoinMarketCap launches Pre-TGE project launchpad. FOMO HOUR brings you the biggest daily news, updates and events from inside and outside of the crypto and macro spheres! Join hosts Farokh, Ma...

The US Senate is expected to take up another vote on the GENIUS Act within days, but it's unclear whether the bill's supporters will address concerns from Democrats. Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal addressed some of the concerns raised by US lawmakers and industry leaders around President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, and how they may affect related legislation. Speaking at the Consensus conference in Toronto on May 15, Grewal said there had been “hiccups” in Congress since the Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, in March. Though Grewal said there were disputes over “substantial issues that need to be addressed” in the bill, he hinted that Trump’s involvement in the industry was a “complicating factor.”  “The discussion around the president's support for a certain memecoin or two and other efforts does add a certain level of challenge to the effort to get Democrats and Republicans aligned on the right way to r...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Coinbase to determine whether it misrepresented the number of users on its platform. Coinbase confirmed the news on May 15 after a New York Times article revealed the probe and reported that it had been ongoing since the Biden administration. The report, combined with the exchange […] The post Coinbase confirms Biden-era SEC probe over ‘verified users’ is still ongoing appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Alliance DAO contributor Qiao Wang has detailed a sophisticated social engineering scam targeting Coinbase users amid the firm’s insider-led data breach incident. In a May 15 post on social media, Wang revealed how attackers impersonate exchange staff using personal data obtained through a recent internal breach. Individuals contacted him, claiming to represent Coinbase and warning […] The post How an insider-led breach sparked a costly scam at Coinbase appeared first on CryptoSlate.

All the Coinbase customer service agents whom cybercriminals allegedly bribed to gain access to user data were based in India, according to Philip Martin. Coinbase has reportedly fired a group of customer support agents following their alleged involvement in social engineering attacks on users. The contracted agents were based in India. According to a May 15 Fortune interview, Coinbase's chief security officer, Philip Martin, said the company flagged customer support contractors who allowed scammers access to user data, suggesting they could be Indian nationals. The CSO’s comments came after some crypto users reeled from attempted phishing attacks using their Coinbase data, which the exchange estimated could cost them between $180 million and $400 million in remediation and reimbursement. Qiao Wang, a core contributor to Alliance DAO, said in a May 15 X post that he may have been a victim of one of these attacks. He said a scammer notified him his Coinbase account had been compromised, asked him to verify his...

Coinbase rejected a $20 million ransom demand after insiders leaked user data in a phishing scheme. The exchange expects up to $400 million in reimbursement and remediation costs. Coinbase, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by a $20 million extortion attempt after cybercriminals recruited overseas support agents to leak user data, the company said. According to a May 15 blog post, Coinbase said a group of external actors bribed and coordinated with several customer support contractors to access internal systems and steal limited user account data. “These insiders abused their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers,” Coinbase said, adding that no passwords, private keys, funds or Coinbase Prime accounts were affected. Read more

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong extended a public invitation to employees of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), encouraging them to apply for roles at the crypto exchange after they leave their current roles. Armstrong announced the move in a social media post on May 14, where he described the opportunity as a new mission […] The post Coinbase CEO wants to hire DOGE staff to help improve the global financial system appeared first on CryptoSlate.

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph at the Futurist Conference, Coinbase Canada’s CEO disclosed a recent investment in Stablecorp and outlined plans for the local stablecoin market. Coinbase has partnered with Canadian stablecoin issuer Stablecorp in a bid to expand access to tokenized Canadian dollars, a company executive told Cointelegraph during the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto. According to Coinbase Canada's CEO, Lucas Matheson, the exchange is investing an undisclosed amount in Stablecorp and will help market its fiat-collateralized stablecoin, QCAD. “It’s really important that we have a stablecoin for Canadians,” Matheson told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview on May 13, adding that stablecoins are especially urgent because the country has “no peer-to-peer [payment] rail” and “wire transfers cost $45 and take 45 minutes of paperwork.” Read more