Coinbase Flips the Script—Offers $20M Bounty to Hunt Down Extortionists
When hackers tried to strong-arm Coinbase, the exchange didn’t just call the cops—it turned the tables with a bounty bigger than most Series A rounds. Here’s how crypto’s favorite corporate giant turned a shakedown into a PR win.
The Play: Instead of quietly paying up (like certain *cough* traditional banks), Coinbase dangled a $20M carrot for info leading to the extortionists. Because nothing scares cybercriminals like a profit motive.
The Irony: A company built on ‘trustless’ systems just proved old-school bounties still work—while Wall Street still charges you $50 for wire transfers that take three days.
“Hell no!”
Martin added how the ransom demand came with a threat to publish the stolen data unless Coinbase paid.
“The knee-jerk reaction of every single person who heard we were being extorted was ‘hell no!’” he said.
Coinbase said it is working with law enforcement, has tagged the attackers’ wallet addresses, and will reimburse any customer who lost funds due to the social engineering attack.
The company is also launching a new U.S.-based support hub and tightening access controls across its systems.
“We will prosecute you and bring you to justice,” Armstrong said in his closing message to the attackers. “Now you have my answer.”
