TechFlow, May 16 — Coinbase (COIN.O) shares closed down 7.2%. According to The New York Times, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether the company inflated its user numbers, with particular focus on "verified users" data released around its 2021 public listing.
On the same day, Coinbase disclosed a data breach incident. Hackers obtained personal information of less than 1% of monthly active users by bribing overseas customer service staff, though passwords, private keys, and funds were not compromised. In response to hackers' $20 million ransom demand, Coinbase refused to pay and announced the establishment of a matching reward fund to assist in the arrest of the perpetrators, while pledging compensation for affected users. Coinbase estimates the data breach could result in losses of up to $400 million.
