Kraken’s Chief Security Officer Nick Percoco has revealed that the crypto exchange is being extorted by criminals who are threatening to leak videos of client data.
Percoco shared the news on X today, detailing how it identified two instances of its staff accessing its client systems and leaking them online.
He claims that in 2025, the exchange discovered one of its support staff had leaked client data after somebody tipped the firm off about footage circulating on criminal forums.
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In this instance, Percoco says the firm was able to revoke the staff member’s access and enact additional security controls.
Percoco says the firm has since learned of another more “recent” breach, and as before, it terminated the individual’s access to company systems.
He claims that Kraken then received extortion demands.
“The criminals threatened to distribute materials from both the February 2025 incident and the recent incident to media outlets and on social media if we did not comply. We will not pay these criminals,” he said.
Clients included in the leaks were informed, and Percoco said it only affected “approximately 2,000 in total (0.02% of clients).”
Read more: Kraken customer data allegedly for sale on dark web
He added that the firm believes “there is sufficient evidence to support the identification and arrest of those responsible.”
“We are actively working with federal law enforcement across multiple jurisdictions to pursue all individuals involved and bring them to justice,” he said.
Protos contacted Kraken for further details about the extortion and why it disclosed the February 2025 breach over a year later, and was told by a spokesperson, “A criminal group is threatening to release information about a security incident if we do not meet their extortion demands.
“We will not negotiate with bad actors and have therefore transparently shared what happened in a post on X.”
Stolen data from Kraken appears to have been listed for sale earlier this year on Russian-speaking criminal forums. The vendor claimed to sell “panel access” login credentials that would give buyers read-only access to Kraken’s know your customer documentation, transaction histories, and support tickets.
Billion-dollar crypto exchange Coinbase was also extorted in 2025 after its customer support staff leaked customer data.
In this case, cybercriminals bribed staff and then used the leaked data to try to blackmail Coinbase out of $20 million.
Protos has reached out to Kraken for comment and will update this piece should we hear anything back.
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The post Kraken confirms extortion attempt after 2,000 clients’ data stolen appeared first on Protos.
