Coinbase breach strikes PayPal Mafia royalty, Sequoia boss

Sequoia Capital Managing Partner Roelof Botha was among the high-profile victims whose personal information was compromised in the recent Coinbase hack.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the incident reveals that prominent executives were targeted in the hack against the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange.

As per Bloomberg report, the stolen data reportedly included Botha’s phone number, address, and other sensitive account information associated with his Coinbase profile, said the source, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the situation.

Coinbase hackers bribed customer service staff

The cryptocurrency exchange disclosed Thursday that attackers had successfully bribed customer service representatives based in India to gain unauthorized access to client data. According to reports, the compromised information included names, birth dates, addresses, nationalities, government identification numbers, banking information, and account information.

Following the breach, the hackers attempted to extort $20 million from Coinbase in exchange for their silence, a demand that the company rejected. According to Coinbase officials, suspicious activity from certain customer service representatives had been detected as early as January.

Botha is a member of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” the notorious group of entrepreneurs and investors, including Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. He has also been with Sequoia Capital since 2003, where he made early investments in companies like YouTube and Instagram before becoming the firm’s senior steward in 2022.

Some Coinbase users received security alerts last weekend warning that their information may have been improperly accessed, according to the person familiar with the situation.

The incident has highlighted growing concerns about the security of cryptocurrency executives as the industry gains mainstream visibility and adoption.

Despite the Coinbase hack, COIN is up 9% today to $266.4 at press time. This means that investors remain optimistic about the company’s long-term potential despite the data security challenges.