Coinbase Knew Months Before the Leak Went Public — Here’s What Happened

Coinbase (COIN) said it was blindsided by a major customer data breach. But new reports suggest it knew all the way back in January. Now the crypto giant is under fire for how it handled — or mishandled — the fallout.

Coinbase Flagged on TaskUs Breach Months Earlier

According to Reuters, Coinbase was notified in January that a TaskUs employee in India may have leaked customer data. The employee was allegedly caught snapping photos of sensitive account info on her work screen with a personal phone — and handing that data to hackers for cash.

This was months before Coinbase finally disclosed the breach in a May 14 filing. By then, the damage was done. Nearly 70,000 users were exposed. Hackers made ransom demands. Data was leaked. Trust took a hit.

The two employees involved were reportedly part of a larger outsourcing team. And while more than 200 TaskUs staff were laid off in January, insiders say only two were directly tied to the breach.

The Scope Was Big — but the Reaction was Quiet

Coinbase says it severed ties with TaskUs agents involved and “tightened controls.” It also confirmed it rejected a $20 million ransom in mid-May, refusing to pay for silence after hackers began leaking customer info.

But the bigger question is: Why wait months to tell users?

According to the Manhattan lawsuit filed May 27, TaskUs was supposed to safeguard Coinbase’s customer support operations. But with weak oversight and reportedly delayed responses, the hole in the wall was already wide open.

TaskUs didn’t just get named here for the first time. It was also sued back in 2022 — alongside Shopify — over another crypto-related breach involving Ledger. That one exposed personal data of hardware wallet owners, many of whom still deal with phishing scams to this day.

Not Just a Coinbase Problem

This isn’t just about Coinbase. It’s about the uncomfortable reality of how much of crypto’s infrastructure relies on third-party firms in other countries — and what happens when those firms fail.

Outsourcing is common. But security expectations don’t stop at the vendor level. When things go sideways, users don’t care who was technically responsible — they just know their data’s out there.

It’s also about disclosure. If Coinbase had this info in January, but only filed in May, regulators may want to know why. And customers definitely will.

Is Coinbase a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Despite the recent data breach revelations, Wall Street isn’t exactly hitting the panic button on Coinbase stock. According to TipRanks data, 23 analysts have weighed in over the past three months — and the consensus is a Moderate Buy. That includes 11 Buys and 12 Holds. No Sells.

The average COIN price target is $261.43, which implies about a 6% upside from the last trading price of $246.72. 

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