Sequoia Capital Partner's data is hacked as part of Coinbase offense

(Bloomberg) -Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital Managing Partner, was one of the Coinbase Global Inc. customers whose personal information was stolen as part of a hack against the largest US crypto exchange, a person familiar with the situation, indicating that high profile drivers were among the targets. Personal information about Botha, including his phone number, address and other details associated with his Coinbase account, was stolen, the person said and asked not to be identified on private matters. Coinbase revealed on Thursday that attackers have bribed customer service representatives in India with cash in exchange for access to customer data. Bloomberg News reported that information, including names, birth dates, addresses, nationalities, government ID numbers, a few bank data and details on when accounts were created and their balance was exposed. The thieves then claimed $ 20 million from Coinbase in exchange for coverage of the incident, a claim of the extortion the company refused to pay, it states. Coinbase began noticing unusual activities of some customer service representatives until January, the company confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg. That the attackers have collected information about Botha, who has not been reported before, indicates the kind of rich and powerful targets the outsiders were looking for compromise. Botha is a member of the so-called PayPal Mafia, an influential group of former PayPal employees who include Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. He joined Sequoia, one of the world’s leading business firms, in 2003 and placed early bets on companies such as YouTube and Instagram. He became the leader of the firm and took the title of Senior Steward in 2022. Coinbase declined to comment. Botha did not respond to a request for comment. Sequoia Capital also refused to comment. Some clients received warnings from Coinbase last weekend that indicate that there is improperly access to their information, according to the person familiar with the case. The safety of Crypto drivers became a topic of concern as the sector became more visible. France’s Interior Ministry gathered a group of managers on Friday to explain immediate steps the country is taking to end a wave of kidnapping who are the leaders in the industry. These measures will include special investigations at the houses of Crypto drivers and specific information sessions to them and their families. The meeting comes after the daughter and grandson of CEO of Paymium, a virtual currency scholarship, were the targets for a failed kidnapping that took place in the daylight in Paris. For that, the father of another man was made rich from cryptocurrency, and then released two days later. Hackers have targeted the cryptocurrency industry for years. Suspect North Korean attackers exploited the Crypto Exchange by bit in February, causing an incident of $ 1.5 billion that described safety researchers as a bigger incident than came for it. -With help from Teresa Xie. (Updated to include additional context in the final paragraph. A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled sequoia in the head.) More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP