So, the Coinbase hack. What happened? And why does the company expect a $400M loss?
What did Coinbase do? Well, what does the most influential US crypto company that safeguards most of the $122B Bitcoin ETF reserves do?
It issued a $20M bounty for any information that leads to catching the cybercriminals, and promises to reimburse 100% of user losses, which are estimated to be in the range of $400 million.
Read on to find out all the details of the Coinbase hack.
The cybercrooks had what they thought to be an infallible, four-step process:
Unfortunately for the hackers, less than 1% of Coinbase’s users were impacted. And the leaked information didn’t contain account passwords or, worse, seed phrases for the crypto holdings.
So, in effect, the criminals’ leverage was paper-thin.
Naturally, Coinbase did what Coinbase does – offer a guarantee to reimburse 100% of user losses and turn the $20M ransom against the hackers in the form of a bounty to catch them.
Although significant damage was done, things could have been a lot worse. Users could have had their seed phrases leaked, which would have put their assets at risk.
The realization, I’m sure, leaves plenty to be desired from Coinbase clients and crypto exchange users.
Which brings us to non-custodial crypto wallets, which are generally safer than custodial ones with exchanges, since you’re the one holding the keys. Best Wallet is one of the up-and-coming, which is currently undergoing a presale for the Best Wallet Token, its ecosystem token.
Let’s see what that’s about.
So, $300 would get you 11,983 $BEST tokens, which you can stake for a 199% annual APY (35,829 tokens or $896 in one year).
The Coinbase hack isn’t the first or last crypto hack we’ll see.
But it did happen to the most influential US crypto company, and the first crypto exchange to be listed on the S&P 500. So, while it does mean funds are still at risk if kept on exchanges, we don’t have to live with that.
Non-custodial wallets could become the norm in a not-so-distant future if exchanges don’t shift their approach to security.
Remember that investing in crypto presales is risky. The market is very volatile, and dumps can happen at a moment’s notice (like the Coinbase hack aftermath). Never invest more than you can afford, and always do your own research.
