Coinbase pushes back against the theory it helped US authorities recover Colonial Pipeline ransom crypto

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Coinbase said it did not work with US authorities to recover the Colonial Pipeline crypto ransom.

Graphs circulating online seemed to show that the bitcoin ransom was sent via Coinbase servers.

The FBI recovered a big chunk of the $4.3 million paid by gaining access to the hackers’ wallet.

Coinbase’s chief security officer has denied the crypto exchange helped US authorities recover a big chunk of the $4.3 million crypto ransom paid to Colonial Pipeline hackers, after theories about its involvement circulated online.

Company CSO Philip Martin took to Twitter to respond to the claims that the crypto exchange had played a part in the Department of Justice and FBI seizing 63.7 bitcoins, worth $2.3 million, by unlocking a bitcoin wallet. Court filings showed authorities obtained a seizure warrant for the wallet, which contained funds paid to “Dark Side” hackers who shut down the US’s largest refined-oil-product pipeline in May.

“Coinbase was not the target of the warrant and did not receive the ransom or any part