The US Government is launching a new investigation into Coinbase, after a recent breach at the leading cryptocurrency exchange, according to a Bloomberg report. Coinbase has said the hack involved criminals bribing employees and contractors in India to obtain client data. However, Investigators from the US Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington are digging into the cause and reason behind the breach.

“We have notified and are working with the DOJ and other US and international law enforcement agencies and welcome law enforcement’s pursuit of criminal charges against these bad actors,” said Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer. Coinbase disclosed the breach last Thursday, revealing that hackers bribed customer representatives to steal the data. Those hackers then asked for $20 million in ransom to cover it up.

Coinbase estimates that the incident could cost the firm as much as $400 million to resolve. The US Justice Department has yet to comment on the investigation

Coinbase has been near the center of investigation and controversy for years. The exchange is arguably the biggest in the world and most popular, leaving it a prospective victim for hackers at any time. Last week, the exchange said that in the months leading up to this attack, it had detected instances of customer support agents outside of the US collecting data from internal Coinbase systems. The company added that those people have since been fired.

Also reported earlier today, Circle is in “informal talks” to sell to either Coinbase or Ripple in what would be a landmark deal. However, the USDC stablecoin issuer is still moving forward with its plan to go public. Therefore, an interesting development occurs if Coinbase were to acquire the stable coin issuer.

The US Government is launching a new investigation into Coinbase, after a recent breach at the leading cryptocurrency exchange, according to a Bloomberg report. Coinbase has said the hack involved criminals bribing employees and contractors in India to obtain client data. However, Investigators from the US Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington are digging into the cause and reason behind the breach.

“We have notified and are working with the DOJ and other US and international law enforcement agencies and welcome law enforcement’s pursuit of criminal charges against these bad actors,” said Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer. Coinbase disclosed the breach last Thursday, revealing that hackers bribed customer representatives to steal the data. Those hackers then asked for $20 million in ransom to cover it up.

Coinbase estimates that the incident could cost the firm as much as $400 million to resolve. The US Justice Department has yet to comment on the investigation

Coinbase has been near the center of investigation and controversy for years. The exchange is arguably the biggest in the world and most popular, leaving it a prospective victim for hackers at any time. Last week, the exchange said that in the months leading up to this attack, it had detected instances of customer support agents outside of the US collecting data from internal Coinbase systems. The company added that those people have since been fired.

Also reported earlier today, Circle is in “informal talks” to sell to either Coinbase or Ripple in what would be a landmark deal. However, the USDC stablecoin issuer is still moving forward with its plan to go public. Therefore, an interesting development occurs if Coinbase were to acquire the stable coin issuer.