A high-profile data breach involving Coinbase has reportedly impacted Roelof Botha, Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, raising concerns that other prominent venture capitalists may also be compromised.
According to a Bloomberg report on May 16, Botha was among the victims whose personal information was accessed in the breach, which stemmed from a social engineering campaign targeting Coinbase users through customer service agents.
The attack allegedly involved a bribery scheme that coerced support staff to divulge sensitive information.
Sequoia Partner Oversees Significant Assets Amid Breach Concerns
While the exact extent of Botha’s holdings remains undisclosed, he is believed to manage assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Coinbase confirmed the incident in a May 15 blog post, revealing that the attackers exploited internal support systems to gain unauthorized access to customer data. The attackers demanded a $20 million ransom, which Coinbase declined to pay.
The breach has prompted security teams at Kraken and Binance to investigate similar intrusion attempts, though neither exchange has publicly confirmed any data exposure.
Coinbase Chief Security Officer Philip Martin stated that the compromised support staff were based in India and have since been terminated.
The company has filed a disclosure with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, estimating the financial impact of the breach to range between $180 million and $400 million.
Impact on Coinbase Stock and Legislative Pressure
Following the breach, Coinbase shares (COIN) dropped over 7% to $244 before recovering slightly to $264.24.
The timing of the breach is significant, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was seen in Washington, D.C., engaging with lawmakers about two pivotal crypto regulations — one targeting stablecoins and the other focusing on digital asset market structure.
The incident could potentially sway legislative sentiment as these bills approach a vote, affecting the broader regulatory landscape for crypto firms.
