The Chief Security Officer of the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has refuted suggestions the trading platform was involved in the seizure of cryptoassets associated with the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

Philip Martin, Coinbase’s CSO, said on social media the firm was “not the target of the warrant and did not receive the ransom or any part of the ransom at any point,” not did it have evidence the funds went through a Coinbase account or wallet.

The government seized 63.7 BTC worth roughly $2.3 million from wallets belonging to the DarkSide ransomware group, which attack Colonial Pipeline and other companies. The government has not disclosed how the FBI was able to seize the funds.

Some users suggested on social media the private keys for the wallet were at one point on Coinbase servers, and were then seized by the FBI. The official affidavit says the private key to the address was in the possession of the FBI in the Northern District of California, where Coinbase has servers.

 Martin refuted these claims saying that what “his likely means is that the private key is located at one of the many Northern California FBI field offices,” and that the seizure warrant would have to be targeted at Coinbase for officials to access its servers.

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Source: https://www.cryptocompare.com/email-updates/daily/2021/jun/09/