Coinbase—Coinbase acquired Neutrino, a blockchain analytics firm whose founders were linked to Hacking Team spyware
In February 2019, Coinbase acquired Neutrino for $13.5 million, a blockchain intelligence startup. Neutrino's CEO Giancarlo Russo, CTO Alberto Ornaghi, and CRO Marco Valleri were previously executives at Hacking Team, an Italian company that sold surveillance spyware to authoritarian regimes including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. After significant user backlash including a #DeleteCoinbase campaign, CEO Brian Armstrong expressed regret and the controversial Hacking Team-linked employees were removed from their roles.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Governance | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.664 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Coinbase acquired Neutrino for $13.5M despite founders' links to Hacking Team spyware sold to authoritarian regimes
Coinbase acquired Neutrino in February 2019 for $13.5 million. Neutrino's CEO Giancarlo Russo, CTO Alberto Ornaghi, and CRO Marco Valleri were previously executives at Hacking Team, an Italian company that sold surveillance spyware to authoritarian regimes in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. A #DeleteCoinbase campaign ensued, and CEO Brian Armstrong later expressed regret and removed the controversial employees.