In an interview with Stripe’s John Collison, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared details on tactics North Korean hackers use to infiltrate Coinbase. Attempts by deceptive agents to bribe the exchange’s support team or get jobs at Coinbase resulted in stricter security standards. What did we learn about hackers from the DPRK?
Summary
- In a new interview, Brian Armstrong emphasized that North Korea is trying to infiltrate tech companies with a large number of its agents disguised as remote IT workers.
- Armstrong said it feels like around 500 new agents graduate from special schools every quarter.
- According to Armstrong, threat actors are trying to bribe the Coinbase support team with hundreds of thousands of dollars to get private info.
- Coinbase had to tighten up its security standards while hiring new people. Only the fingerprinted employees with U.S. citizenship and family in-country can access sensitive info.
- Previously, investigators found out that the DPRK is constantly trying to get its agents hired in tech companies so they can steal cryptocurrency there. Stolen crypto is thought to be used as funding for the North Korean nuclear program.
North Korea takeaways from Armstrong’s interview
On Aug. 20, 2025, the Stripe YouTube channel released a new video. In it, Collison and Armstrong, who are the heads of Stripe and Coinbase, have a conversation about notable trends in the cryptocurrency space.
Collison asked Armstrong what the general tech public does not appreciate about the cybercrime landscape, and Armstrong’s nearly immediate response was “a lot of North Korean agents are trying to work at these companies,” most of the time remotely.
Armstrong said that while companies are working with law enforcement and get notified about some candidates as “known actors,” it feels like 500 more agents graduate from “some kind of school” in the DPRK each quarter, and infiltrating tech companies is their “whole job.”
He emphasized that he does not blame individuals for becoming agents:
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