Coinbase says former agent arrested in India over exchange hack

A former customer service agent linked to Coinbase Global Inc. has been arrested in India as part of an ongoing investigation into a data breach at the cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed the development on social media, thanking Hyderabad Police for their assistance.

“We have zero tolerance for bad behavior and will continue to work with law enforcement to bring bad actors to justice,” said Armstrong via a post on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Thanks to the Hyderabad Police in India, an ex-Coinbase customer service agent was just arrested. Another one down and more still to come,” he added.

The arrest follows earlier revelations by Coinbase that hackers had bribed contractors and employees outside the United States to gain access to customer data. In May, the company disclosed that the attackers demanded a ransom of $20 million.

The breach was among the more high-profile security incidents to impact a crypto trading platform.
Coinbase had estimated at the time that the total cost of addressing the breach could be as high as $400 million.According to reports from Bloomberg, a spokesperson for Coinbase confirmed the arrest in India and said it follows recent action taken in the United States. The company had earlier worked with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, where prosecutors filed charges against a Brooklyn-based individual accused of running a long-running impersonation scheme targeting Coinbase customers.

Shares of Coinbase fell around 1.2% to $236.79 on Friday. The stock is down approximately 4.6% so far this year.

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