Even before Coinbase Global Inc. revealed that the pirates had stolen the domestic addresses and the account sales of his customers, Jethro Pijlman saw an increase in the interest of the customers concerned by large cryptographic participations which sought bodyguards and other forms of protection.
Pijlman works for a company based in Amsterdam which provides physical security and intelligence services to cryptocurrency holders who were worried about the wave of kidnappings that struck the industry-the most recent of which occurred last week, when attackers tried to remove the girl and the grandson of a French cryptocurrency manager.
“We have had more requests, more long -term customers and more proactive requests for cryptographic investors who do not want to be caught up in deprivation,” said Pijlman, CEO of International Risks International. “They realize that intelligent security measures are part of the cost of manufacturing business at this level.”
People with cryptographic wealth are faced with unique physical risks because public blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum allow to transfer tokens instantly and anonymously. This means that if an individual is forced to give up access information to his assets, his assets can disappear in a few seconds with little chances of recovery. Conversely, in traditional financial services, bank accounts can be frozen or seized by the police, allowing more likely to recover lost money.
The concerns concerning physical security appeared after the attack on Coinbase because the hackers who entered the exchange of cryptocurrency had access to data which could allow them to identify and find customers with great assets – a frightening perspective only a few days after the attempted removal in France.
Several victims of the Violation of Coinbase refused to talk about the file in Bloomberg, citing concerns that their security could be compromised by being named in a story.
“Crypto traders are extremely concerned about their privacy during data leaks,” said Ronghu Gu, co-founder of the security company Blockchain Certik and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. “Cryptocurrency can be transferred with a private private key and is extremely difficult to recover,” he added. “This makes first -rate cryptographic traders for criminals.”
Massive industry investments in online systems protection can even feed off -line risks. According to Charles Marin, CEO of the Sentinel security company, which provides physical relations, CEO of the Sentinel security company, which provides reports on physical attacks, has become so difficult that adversaries use physical attacks, which provide intelligence reports on current threats to cryptographic industry.
“Right now, the cryptographic threat landscape is very high,” he said.
The high concerns concerning the security of the leaders of Crypto and their relatives are illustrated by the amount of money that Coinbase spends to protect his own manager, Brian Armstrong.
The company spent $ 6.2 million on personal security costs for Armstrong last year, according to a regulatory file in April which detailed the remuneration of managers. It is more than the combined quantity than Jpmorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nvidia Corp. Spended on their respective CEOs, have shown similar documents.
Coinbase representatives did not respond to requests for comments in this story.
Coinbase said that the leak affected less than 1% of its monthly transaction users. However, for months, criminals had access to customer data that included their names, addresses, government-ID imagery, transaction history and account sales. Customer support workers in India have been united to provide access to business data.
Criminals have already used information to encourage certain Coinbase customers to give access to their accounts or transfer their tokens. As with the data leaks of traditional banks, personal information can be used for online fraud and identity theft. But physical threats particularly concern cryptographic investors, many of which have long operated anonymous to avoid threats.
During the attempted kidnapping in Paris last week, criminals targeted family members of the CEO of Paymium, an exchange of French crypto. Although this attempt was thwarted, it was only the last in a series of similar attacks. David Balland, co-founder of the French startup of the SAS portfolio startup, was left with a mutilated hand after he and his partner were kidnapped in January.
The attacks increased enough for the French Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau to promise a priority emergency police number on Friday. French police units Elite will also offer special briefings and security exams for Crypto leaders and their families.
On social networks, kidnappings and recent Coinbase attack led merchants to say that they avoid travel in France so early. SethCC, an annual crypto conference in Cannes, increased security measures for this summer rally, according to a spokesperson for the event. This included coordination with several branches of the French police, special forces and private security companies, they said, rather than the simple local police as had been done in previous years.
These problems, however, did not comply with France. A Bitcoin safety expert, Jameson LOPP, retains a public database being executed for physical attacks against cryptocurrency holders. He is documenting more than 20 incidents worldwide this year only.
A number of American companies working with digital tokens pay for the protection of managers. Circle Internet Group Inc., which said its intention to make public earlier this year, spent about $ 800,000 for personal security for CEO Jeremy Allaire in 2024 while Robinhoood Markets Inc. spent around 1.6 million dollars for Vlad Tenev, according to the company’s documents.
The amount that these companies spend pale compared to the costs of certain technology giants. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms Inc. and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc. accumulated $ 27.2 million and $ 8.2 million, respectively, in personal security costs, although their companies are more precious than any Crypto company today.
In addition to bodyguards, Pijlman’s company, Infinite Risks International, offers armored vehicles, domestic security assessments and social media surveillance to ensure that customers do not reveal information on their physical location. “It is often a careful call or a story in the news to provoke an action, but once they understand the threat, they want to take it seriously,” he said. “People wake up that their digital success can create very real risks.”
