Coinbase Stock Declines Following Disclosure of Customer Data Breach to SEC By Aaron McDade

Coinbase Global’s stock experienced a dip in premarket trading on Thursday after the cryptocurrency exchange revealed in a regulatory filing that it had been targeted by a cyberattack.

The digital currency trading platform stated on Wednesday that it had been the target of a cyber intrusion. According to the company, an unidentified malicious actor contacted them via email on May 11, asserting they had acquired details concerning specific Coinbase customer accounts, along with internal Coinbase documents. Coinbase indicated that “the perpetrator seemingly gained this information by compensating several contractors or employees in support roles located outside of the United States to gather data from internal Coinbase systems they were authorized to access.”

Coinbase Anticipates Costs Ranging from $180M to $400M

The regulatory filing further noted, “The communication included a demand for payment in exchange for not publicly disclosing the compromised information.” Coinbase affirmed that they have not complied with this demand and are currently cooperating with law enforcement authorities. While the investigation is still underway, Coinbase estimates that the incident will result in expenses between approximately $180 million and $400 million, covering “remediation costs and voluntary customer reimbursements.”

Coinbase clarified that no passwords or customer funds were compromised during the incident. However, they acknowledged that names, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, masked bank account numbers, and Coinbase account details such as “balance snapshots and transaction history” may have been exposed.

Shares of Coinbase stock were down over 2% in the hour leading up to Thursday’s market open. This decline follows a surge in the stock’s value earlier in the week, driven by the announcement that Coinbase is set to be included in the S&P 500 index next Monday.

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