BlockTower's Ari Paul says Coinbase lost $25M of firm funds and hid over $1B in hacks
BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul alleges Coinbase lost $25M of his firm's funds and covered up hacks worth over $1B; Coinbase says it messaged him to look into it.
Why it matters
The allegation is unproven and rests on one party's account, but it reaches past a single dispute into a claimed pattern across at least a dozen firms, and Paul says legal proceedings are underway. Coinbase has not publicly rebutted the $25 million loss or the $1 billion figure on the record; its only response in the sources is a direct message to Paul. Coinbase separately disclosed a May 2025 breach affecting at least 69,400 users, in which customer support staff were bribed for internal access between December 2024 and its discovery, and a support channel that can be bought is the same channel Paul describes being used to stall a $1.2 million claim.
Where the sources disagree
Whether the $1.2 million Kuno claim describes a real account
Kuno: Coinbase stole $1.2 million after more than 30 support tickets
Protos, CryptoPotato, Crypto News (CryptoNews.net)
Coinbase: no account matching the description could be found; possible meme-token promotion
Protos, Crypto News (CryptoNews.net)
Kuno says Coinbase took $1.2 million from them, while Coinbase's Jordan Fish said no account matching the description could be found and called the post possible engagement bait.
Nature of the BlockTower $25 million loss
Coinbase lost the funds
Protos, CryptoPotato
Loss traced to massive and repeated hacks, one of at least a dozen affected firms
Protos, CryptoPotato
CryptoPotato reports that Paul's investigation shifted the framing from Coinbase having lost the funds to a covered-up hack, and the claim remains unresolved.
Key facts
Paul alleges Coinbase covered up over $1 billion in massive and repeated hacks.
1,000,000,000 USDReported by Protos
Paul says Coinbase still would not return his firm's money.
Reported by Protos
Paul said that is all he can say for now because multiple legal processes are ongoing.
Reported by Protos
Coinbase Support replied on X that it had sent Paul a direct message so it could look into the matter right away.
Reported by CryptoPotato
An X user called Kuno wrote on September 26 that Coinbase stole $1.2 million from them a year earlier after they opened more than 30 support tickets.
1,200,000 USDDisputed figureReported by Protos
Coinbase product head Jordan Fish, known as Cobie on X, said in that thread that no account matching Kuno's description could be found and suggested the post was promotion of a meme token.
Reported by Protos
What happened
BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul said on September 29 that Coinbase lost $25 million of his firm's funds several years ago and that his own investigation into the loss led him to a wider claim: at least a dozen other affected firms and over $1 billion covered up, in what he called massive and repeated hacks. Paul said the refusal to return BlockTower's money is the part Coinbase still has not resolved, and that multiple legal processes are ongoing, which is why he said that is all he can say for now. Protos and CryptoPotato both carry the allegation; Crypto News picked up the same account through syndication. Coinbase Support replied on X that it had sent Paul a direct message so it could look into the claim, according to both CryptoPotato and Crypto News. The dispute grew out of a thread involving an X user called Kuno, who wrote on September 26 that Coinbase stole $1.2 million from them a year earlier after they opened more than 30 support tickets and gave the exchange 24 hours to act before posting a Google Meet recording and pursuing legal action. Coinbase product head Jordan Fish, known as Cobie on X, answered in the same thread that no account matching that description could be found and suggested the post was engagement bait for a meme token, a characterisation Protos describes as coming from Cobie alongside his view of the whole affair as a fake report or engagement farm. Cobie has not responded to Paul's allegations, and it is not clear whether Kuno followed through on the threatened action or whether Coinbase reached them. No independent confirmation of the $25 million loss or the $1 billion figure has appeared in the sources reviewed.
How the story developed
- Update
Kuno alleges Coinbase took $1.2 million
The X user said Coinbase stole $1.2 million a year earlier, opened more than 30 support tickets and gave the exchange 24 hours before posting a Google Meet recording and pursuing legal action.
- Update
Paul alleges Coinbase lost $25M and hid over $1B in hacks
Paul posted that BlockTower's funds were lost, that he traced the issue to at least a dozen other firms and over $1 billion, and that Coinbase would not return the money; he cited ongoing legal processes.
- First report
First report by Protos
Ari Paul says Coinbase lost his $25M, covered up $1B in hacks
- Update
Coinbase's Jordan Fish disputes the Kuno account
Cobie replied in the same thread that no matching account could be found and suggested the post was promoting a meme token.
- Independent corroboration
Independently corroborated by CryptoPotato
Coinbase Faces $25M Loss Claim From Crypto Investor
- Official statement
Coinbase Support messages Paul on X
Coinbase Support said it had sent a direct message to Paul so it could look into the claim right away.
How coverage built up
Independent sources over time, counted the way the consensus panel counts them: a republication of a wire story does not move the line.
- 29 Sept 2026, 13:28 UTC: Protos — 1 independent source, 1 reports
- 29 Sept 2026, 21:49 UTC: CryptoPotato — 2 independent sources, 2 reports
Affected entities
Also mentioned: Dai, Goldman Sachs, Chainlink
Original sources
| Publisher | Report | Role | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protos Crypto media | Ari Paul says Coinbase lost his $25M, covered up $1B in hacks | Original | |
| CryptoPotato Crypto media | Coinbase Faces $25M Loss Claim From Crypto Investor | Independent | |
| Crypto News (CryptoNews.net) Aggregator | Coinbase Faces $25M Loss Claim From Crypto Investor | Syndicated |
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