Coinbase recently made a massive error when it mistakenly sent out 2FA (two-factor authentication) related emails to approximately 125,000 of its users. The clients were told that the 2FA settings were altered, but it was later revealed that this was a mistake and that Coinbase had sent out the emails by accident.
Naturally, the customers had spent the majority of the weekend in sheer panic as they did not know what to do. Most were left in a state of disbelief and paranoia as they could not understand why the settings had allegedly been changed, and others started wondering about the possibility of a worst-case scenario which was that of a hack. The emails, which were sent out on the 27th of August, have since resulted in plenty of public backlashes, which Coinbase has had to acknowledge via an announcement made a couple of days ago on Twitter which stated that the customers are completely right to be feeling disgruntled as this entire ordeal would seem to be a violation of the users’ trust. Many adversely affected investors may have already begun looking at other viable cryptocurrency exchanges after this recent debacle.
Coinbase customers are not happy
Although Coinbase had officially apologized to its customers, it does not change the fact that numerous customers still feel as if the trust that was placed with the company has been betrayed. Several users have reportedly been considering taking significant actions against Coinbase as part of the backlash, as these people spent a few nerve-wracking days not knowing if the accounts had been hacked or not and if the customers’ cryptocurrency holdings had been liquidated without the users’ knowledge or consent.
To make matters even worse, a sizable portion of the customers took to social media to claim that the Coinbase app was not working properly, and access to it was consistently denied for many days on end following the incident. Other users reported that the app was having ‘connection issues’ and that accessing it was still not possible.
What now?
After the incident, Coinbase has stated that it shall do everything in its power to win back the customers’ trust and confidence. Moreover, affected users shall be reimbursed with Bitcoin (BTC) worth $100 as an apology for what happened.
Of course, there were mixed reactions from the Coinbase customers. While some had acknowledged that mistakes like this can happen and that Coinbase is indeed trying to make amends in a timely manner, others are still not convinced that the company has done enough. Many who were affected by the incident have yet to receive the $100 reimbursement, and others are still unable to access the app.