Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has issued a response to criticism from TechCrunch founder and Arrington Capital investor Michael Arrington, who suggested that executives should face jail time in the wake of the recent data breach at Coinbase.
Armstrong Defends Coinbase Amid ‘Prison Time’ Criticism Storm
In a series of posts on X, Armstrong addressed several issues, which included the scale of the breach, the legal implications for executives, and the government-mandated data collection practices he believes contribute to such incidents.
Arrington, a longtime Coinbase supporter and investor, had voiced strong frustration over the hack, which reportedly exposed sensitive customer data including home addresses and account balances. “This will lead to people dying. It probably already has,” he said. “Consequences to companies who do not adequately protect their customer information should include, without limitation, prison time for executives.”
He also criticized Coinbase’s customer service infrastructure and broader KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations, arguing that the government’s current data collection mandates serve more to “track tax donkeys” than to prevent crime.
Armstrong, in response, clarified that the data is not public yet. Armstrong said the stolen data has not yet surfaced on the dark web and expressed hope that the attacker would recognize the risk of becoming an accessory to more serious crimes. “There is a $20 million bounty on their head,” he added, implying serious consequences for further misuse of the data.
Armstrong argued that holding executives criminally liable for breaches sets an unrealistic standard. “That would mean about half of all executives and most people running government agencies should be in jail,” he said. “You will not win 100% of the time.”
Michael, a couple thoughts on this:
1. The data hasn’t been dumped on the dark web yet. We will see if that holds, but if the attacker is smart they will know they have nothing to gain from this, and everything to lose if they become an accessory to more serious crimes.…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 20, 2025
Armstrong emphasized that Coinbase is compelled by law to collect sensitive customer information it would prefer not to have. He called for a constitutional challenge to laws like the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, suggesting they may violate Fourth Amendment protections.
Armstrong also called out the Bloomberg article cited by Arrington. Armstrong also dismissed a Bloomberg article cited by Arrington as fake or misleading, stating that Coinbase had contacted the Department of Justice for assistance in pursuing the attackers.
Coinbase has become the latest target of the crypto users after the exchange suffered a massive cyberattack that led to an estimated $400 million loss. Coinbase, however, revealed that the breach affected a “small subset” of its users. Stolen information included customer names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and government-issued ID photos. But, the company assured that passwords and private keys were not compromised.
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