Coinbase Faces $25M Loss Claim From Crypto Investor

Coinbase's public response to the investor offered a path to investigate his claim, with the exchange saying it had contacted him by DM.

BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul has alleged that Coinbase “lost” $25 million belonging to his firm several years ago and later covered up a series of hacks that affected other companies.

The claim, posted on September 29, puts a much larger alleged loss at the center of an unresolved dispute that Paul says remains tied to multiple legal proceedings.

Ari Paul Alleges Wider Coinbase Losses

Paul wrote that his firm’s $25 million loss was initially described as Coinbase having “lost” the funds, but his subsequent investigation led him to a different conclusion. He alleged that the exchange had been covering up “massive and repeated hacks” and refused to return BlockTower’s money.

“We traced this to at least a dozen other affected firms and over $1b covered up,” the Strobe VC board member added. “That’s all I can say for now as multiple legal processes still ongoing.”

Coinbase Support replied on X that it had sent a direct message to Paul “so we can look into this right now.” The whole thing started with a user called Kuno, who wrote on September 26 that Coinbase “stole” $1.2 million from them a year earlier.