The crypto exchange said roughly 2,000 accounts were potentially viewed across two separate incidents involving support team members.
Crypto exchange Kraken disclosed that it is being extorted by a criminal group threatening to release videos of its internal systems showing client data, but the company says it will not comply with the demands.
Chief Security Officer Nick Percoco said two separate incidents involving members of its support team resulted in unauthorized access to limited client support data, potentially affecting roughly 2,000 accounts, or about 0.02% of its user base.
He revealed that Kraken first learned of the issue in February 2025 after receiving a tip about a video circulating on a criminal forum that appeared to show access to its client support systems. The company identified the individual as a member of its support team, revoked their access, and notified affected clients.
A second, similar incident was flagged more recently through another tip and video. Kraken again identified and terminated the employee’s access.
Shortly after the second incident was shut down, the company began receiving extortion demands. The criminal group threatened to distribute materials from both incidents to media outlets and on social media.
“Our systems were never breached; funds were never at risk; we will not pay these criminals; we will not ever negotiate with bad actors,” Percoco wrote on X.
Kraken said it believes it has sufficient evidence to support the identification and arrest of those responsible and is working with federal law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/cefi/kraken-refuses-to-pay-extortionists-after-insider-breaches-expose-client-data
