Coinbase Reports 99% of Customer Assets in Cold Storage After Binance Hack

Following the significant security breach at Binance, Coinbase has reassured its customers that more than 99% of their assets are held in cold storage. The exchange emphasized that its systems and customer funds remain unaffected by the hack, which resulted in the theft of approximately $6.34 billion in crypto assets.

In a detailed security update, Coinbase explained that it maintains a small percentage of assets in hot wallets for processing withdrawals, while continuously transferring excess balances to offline storage. The company employs a robust wallet infrastructure that utilizes distributed private keys, multiple approval requirements, and withdrawal limits to safeguard against unauthorized transfers.

Coinbase's security measures include monitoring for unusual transaction activity, with the ability to halt wallet signing operations if suspicious behavior is detected. Additionally, no single employee has standing access to the production wallet signing service, and any sensitive changes require approval from multiple personnel. Enhanced authentication measures are also in place to mitigate risks from compromised employee devices or credentials.

The exchange reiterated that customer assets are held at a 1:1 ratio, remaining the property of customers, with funds neither lent nor utilized without explicit customer instructions. As of September 30, Coinbase reported holding $377 billion in assets on its platform, alongside $8.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $2.2 billion in crypto assets for investment.