Cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase has announced a $20 million bounty for information that leads to the identification and capture of a cybercriminal group that recently attempted to extort the company.

A blog post revealed that Coinbase had been the victim of an advanced blackmail scheme. Reports say some overseas customer service staff were bribed by criminals, leading to the compromising of the accounts of a little over 1% of Coinbase’s users.

The information taken from users consists of their names, concealed bank information, ID papers, and part of their account data.

Coinbase Rejects Ransom, Offers $20M Bounty

After gaining the data, the assailants were going to poise as Coinbase staff and convince users to send their funds to phony wallets. Coinbase has turned down the ransom demand by the attackers, which was $20 million to keep the information secret.

Trying to negotiate with the criminals encourages this kind of attacks, according to Coinbase. “We refuse to negotiate with criminals and will do everything properly to ensure the safety of our customers,” the company stated.

Instead of negotiating, Coinbase has announced a $20 million reward for useful information leading to the arrest of the criminals. This is one of the largest bounties ever paid for information about cybercriminals in the industry.

Right after that attack, there was yet another cyberattack on the Tron DAO’s X (formerly Twitter) where scammers tried to trick people with fraudulent crypto invitations. Security experts believe various social engineering attacks are being made on big names in the blockchain industry.

Coinbase Praised for Swift Security Response

As a result of the breach, Coinbase is now making major changes to its security measures. The creation of a U.S.-based customer service center is the company’s plan to give support and supervision locally rather than rely on agents from other countries.

Coinbase will now be asking users to read important security notices and verify high-risk purchases. In its message, Coinbase stated that security cannot be ignored: “Maintaining security is very important to us, and we will make up for any damage and recover trust while working against these issues.”

Experts in the industry have commended Coinbase’s quick response and mentioned that the bounty could lead to a change in how big exchanges manage cybercrime.

As the investigation continues, the company encourages anybody who has knowledge of the attack to step forward. Coinbase is sending a powerful message that extortion should not be tolerated in the crypto sector, and the bounty is still being offered.