Solana Co-Founder Raj Gokal Exposed in Bungled 40 BTC Extortion Plot via Migos’ Instagram

High-profile crypto figures aren’t immune to old-school shakedowns—even when the attackers fumble the bag. Solana’s Raj Gokal had his personal details leaked through Migos’ Instagram after refusing to cave to a 40 BTC ($2.4M at press time) ransom demand.

Extortion meets incompetence: The would-be blackmailers picked a fight with a blockchain built for high-speed settlements—then tripped over their own anonymity. Gokal’s response? A masterclass in how not to negotiate with digital highwaymen.

Meanwhile, Wall Street still can’t decide if crypto is a scam or their next revenue stream—maybe try losing $40M in a week like the pros do.

Failed ransom attempt

After obtaining the documents, the attackers sought 40 BTC in exchange for keeping the material private, as revealed in the caption of one of the photos posted. Gokal did not pay.

When the extortion attempt failed, the same actor compromised Migos’ 13 million-follower Instagram profile and uploaded images showing Gokal and his wife holding their passports.

Gokal addressed the episode only with aon X: 

No relation to Coinbase data breach

ZachXBT said the breach relied on social-engineering tactics against Gokal’s email provider rather than on leaked data from the recent Coinbase data breach incident, refuting speculation that the doxxing was linked to that breach.

Coinbase revealed on May 15 that itafter threat actors bribed support agents with access to its internal systems. As a result, the group targeted the exchange customers in social engineering attacks.

According to awith the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase estimated remediation costs and voluntary customer reimbursements to be between $180 million and $400 million.