According to the latest report, a former Coinbase customer service contractor has been arrested in India for their role in a recent data breach incident. This arrest comes after hackers reportedly bribed customer service representatives or contractors to gain access to customer information at the US’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In May, Coinbase revealed that hackers bribed contractors or the company’s employees outside to steal sensitive user information. While the San Francisco-based crypto firm faced backlash for allegedly disclosing the data breach months after initial discovery, several employees of the US outsourcing firm TaskUs were laid off following the incident.
Former Customer Service Agent Arrested In India
On Friday, December 26, a Bloomberg report stated that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced a former customer service agent had been arrested in India in connection with the data breach that occurred earlier in the year. The crypto exchange estimated at the time of the incident that this information leak could cost as much as $400 million.
Earlier reports suggested that an India-based TaskUs employee was caught taking pictures of her work computer with her phone to sell it to hackers at the start of the year. The suspected employee and an accomplice were providing sensitive Coinbase customer data to malicious actors in return for bribes, disclosed earlier.
Armstrong said in a post on the social media platform X that the Hyderabad Police have picked up an ex-Coinbase customer service agent, with more arrests still to come. “We have zero tolerance for bad behavior and will continue to work with law enforcement to bring bad actors to justice,” the crypto CEO said.
2026, Start Of A New Coinbase Chapter?
2025 proved to be another challenging year for security across the global cryptocurrency industry, marked by several significant exploits and hacks that rocked the space. As reported, over $3.4 billion worth of crypto assets were lost to hacks and exploits this year.
However, this latest development would come as a positive step for Coinbase, which largely struggled with platform security in 2025. Earlier in February, an investigative report found that customers lost more than $65 million to social engineering exploits in just two months.
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Brooklyn man was indicted on 31 counts for allegedly operating a phishing scheme that defrauded about 100 Coinbase customers of approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency. Going into 2026, the cryptocurrency exchange would be hoping to offer a more secure platform for its users.
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