Latest news with #Zumo
Finextra
a day ago
- Business
- Finextra
Crypto nears systemic risk 'tipping point'
Cryptocurrency could be nearing a point where it poses a system risk to the world's financial system, the outgoing chair of the Financial Stability Board has warned. 0 In a speech in Spain, Klaas Knot noted that - despite bankruptcies, liquidity crises and fraud in the sector - the FSB has long maintained that crypto does not yet pose a system risk. However, he warns that recent developments such as the erosion of barriers to retail take-up and growing interlinkages with the traditional financial system "suggest we may be approaching a tipping point". Klaus notes that stablecoin issuers now hold substantial amounts of US Treasuries, adding "this is a segment we must monitor closely". The FSB chair says that the cross-border nature of crypto means that his organisation's recommendations offer a common foundation that is important for regulators around the world developing their frameworks. Nick Jones, CEO of digital assets platform Zumo responded to Klaas's speech: 'If the FSB looks through a different lens, stablecoins and other cryptoassets have significant potential to fortify financial resilience by introducing cost savings, faster transaction processing, and advanced security features underpinned by cryptographic principles."
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Coinbase says crypto hackers demanded $20m for stolen data
The largest US crypto exchange said it won't pay the ransom and estimated the incident could cost the San Francisco-based firm up to $400m to remedy. Criminals had offered cash to Coinbase customer support agents to copy customer data like names, addresses, account data and government ID images, the exchange said in a statement yesterday. The attackers planned to use this data to pretend to be Coinbase and convince users to hand over their crypto, while demanding ransom from the exchange to cover it up. Less than 1pc of the exchange's monthly transacting users were affected, Coinbase said. In addition to ramping up security controls for those affected, Coinbase said it would reimburse in full anyone who lost money. The exchange also said it is offering a $20m bounty to anyone with information leading to the attackers' arrest and conviction. Coinbase said preliminary estimates suggested it would face between $180m to $400m in 'remediation costs and voluntary customer reimbursements' relating to the incident, according to a regulatory filing released yesterday. A further review of potential losses, indemnification claims and potential recoveries could meaningfully increase or decrease this estimate, it added. Hacks have long plagued the crypto industry, thanks to its heavy reliance on user anonymity and complex digital software. Around $2.2bn was lost to such incidents last year, according to researcher Chainalysis. Operating under the threat of attack has been particularly painful for crypto exchanges, which are often major targets and face high ongoing costs to maintain tight security. 'Unfortunately as our nascent industry grows rapidly, it draws the eye of bad actors, who are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the scope of their attacks and harnessing new AI tools and techniques to bypass fraud prevention measures,' said Nick Jones, founder and CEO at crypto technology platform Zumo. ADVERTISEMENT The incident comes as Coinbase is set to join the S&P 500 index next week. Inclusion in the benchmark is becoming more important for companies in a world dominated by passive investment funds, wrapping Coinbase's stock into numerous trackers following the index. Coinbase shares slipped more than 5pc to $249.34 as of 9:52 a.m. in New York. Coinbase's hackers deployed what's called a social engineering attack – where criminals use people to gain unauthorized access to data, rather than exploiting flaws in computer code. This type of threat has become increasingly popular in crypto, resulting in recent major incidents like the $1.5bn hack of crypto exchange Bybit in February. On May 11, an unknown attacker emailed Coinbase to say it had obtained customer information and some internal Coinbase documentation, the exchange said in the filing. They demanded $20m in Bitcoin in order not to go public with the fact that they had got their hands on such data, Coinbase chief executive officer Brian Armstrong added, speaking in a video posted on social media. In the months leading up to that email, Coinbase had already detected instances of customer support agents collecting information about internal Coinbase systems without needing it for their job.U pon discovery, those workers were immediately terminated and Coinbase said it warned customers who may have been affected. When the May 11 email appeared, Coinbase determined these workers had been part of a single campaign orchestrated by the hacker to steal that data. 'These attackers have been approaching our overseas customer support agents, looking for a weak leak, someone who would accept a bribe in exchange for sharing some customer information with them,' Armstrong said in the video. 'Unfortunately, they were able to find a few bad apples.'
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Coinbase surges on S&P 500 debut, but cyber attack dampens share gains
Coinbase saw its largest share price spike since Donald Trump's election win on Tuesday, after S&P Global announced that the firm would be bumped up to the S&P 500 before trading next week. Coinbase is set to replace Discover Financial Services in the market-capitalisation-weighted US index that tracks the nation's 500 leading public companies. Shares in the crypto exchange skyrocketed 24 per cent on Tuesday following the announcement, just shy of its 31 per cent boom following Donald Trump's election in November. However, Coinbase shares were rocked on Thursday, falling more than five per cent as the firm revealed it was the victim of a cyber-attack. The firm said it expects a hit of between $180million and $400million as result of the cyber-attack, which it said breached account data for a small number of its customers. At the time of writing, Coinbase shares were trading at $251.57. The shares are up 43 per cent over the past month. Following the S&P 500 news, Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong told Yahoo Finance: 'Coinbase joining the S&P 500 means crypto's here to stay.' 'Our long-term goal is we want to be the largest financial service app in the world.' Nick Jones, founder and chief executive of digital assets firm Zumo, said: 'This is a huge moment for crypto's move into the mainstream - and the UK should be watching developments closely. 'Digital assets are becoming increasingly woven into the institutional fabric. 'HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are now working on creating an appropriate regulatory regime for crypto assets to help the UK economy take advantage of the growth opportunities on offer. 'But in the meantime the UK is conspicuously lacking the deals done, the positive announcements, and the product and institutional movement seen in the US - and even the EU.' Cyber attack 'huge blow' Coinbase said that names, addresses and emails were stolen by the hackers in the cyber attack, but that login details remain secure. The firm said it will reimburse customers who were tricked into sending money to the hackers. Jones said: 'This is understandably a huge blow for a company that has had a pivotal few weeks, announcing the acquisition of Deribit in the digital market's largest deal to date, and then joining the S&P 500. 'This attack underlines the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures.' Meanwhile, bitcoin surged back above $100,000 last week but failed to break the $105,000 barrier. On Thursday, bitcoin was trading at $102,345.80. The cryptocurrency peaked at $104,167.60 on Tuesday. Simon Peters, crypto analyst at Etoro, said: 'The rally higher in the bitcoin price last week coincided with news that the United Kingdom had become the first country to agree a trade deal with the US since President Trump imposed tariffs in April. 'Although the UK is not the biggest of trading partners, it gave confidence to markets that with this first trade deal over the line, it could be the beginning of more to come.'
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Crypto exchange Coinbase faces up to $400m hit from cyber attack
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has warned a recent cyber attack will cost it up to $400m (£301m) to firm said it was contacted by hackers who claimed to have gained access to customer information, obtained by making payments to Coinbase contractors and a blog post, Coinbase said the criminals had gained access to "less than 1%" of its customer data, which they then used to impersonate the firm and trick people into handing over their group then demanded $20m from Coinbase to keep it quiet - but it refused to pay the bribe and instead promised to pay back every person who got disclosure prompted the firm's share price to fall by 4.1%. The cyber attack comes days before the US company is set to join the benchmark S&P 500 index - a landmark moment for the crypto also reflects how, as it grows, the industry has increasingly become a target for cyber criminals.A report from research firm Chainanalysis suggests funds stolen from crypto businesses totalled $2.2bn in 2024."Security remains a challenge for the crypto industry despite its growing mainstream acceptance," said Nick Jones, founder of crypto firm Zumo."As our nascent industry grows rapidly, it draws the eye of bad actors, who are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the scope of their attacks." 'Harshest penalties' The company says it received an email from an "unknown threat actor" on May 11."We will reimburse customers who were tricked into sending funds to the attacker," it said in its statement."We're cooperating closely with law enforcement to pursue the harshest penalties possible and will not pay the $20 million ransom demand we received. "Instead we are establishing a $20 million reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminals responsible for this attack."In a filing with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission, it estimated costs between $180m and $ said this figure came from "remediation costs and voluntary customer reimbursements", however this figure could change as a result of "potential losses, indemnification claims, and potential recoveries".The staff members who shared customer information with the hackers have been fired. Coinbase told its customers to expect further attempts from scammers in the future, and advised them to be vigilant."Coinbase will never ask for your password, 2FA codes, or for you to transfer assets to a specific or new address, account, vault or wallet," it said. And it warned customers they should lock their accounts if they are suspicious."To the customers affected, we're sorry for the worry and inconvenience this incident caused," it said. "We'll keep owning issues when they arise." Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
