Crypto ISAC debuts new expanded integration with Coinbase

The Crypto ISAC is starting off its new year with a bang.

In January, the central information sharing hub for the digital currency industry announced an expanded “integration” with Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, that would allow it to share real-time threat intelligence with its Crypto ISAC community members.

Chain reaction. Justine Bone, executive director of the Crypto ISAC, told IT Brew that the expanded relationship with Coinbase, one of the ISAC’s founding members, will offer community members highly confidential, vetted data that they can incorporate into their defensive profiles (e.g., crypto wallet addresses have been found in illicit transactions).

“That means, with confidence, the recipients of this data, which are other member companies, can act on it, so it becomes actionable at scale in that automated way at the pace that we need to move at,” Bone said.

The Crypto ISAC was formally launched in 2024. Bone said it was important for the digital currency industry to have its own member organization separate from the traditional financial services ISAC, because of the specific risks that come with this technology and its ecosystem.

“Because blockchain is so unique technology-wise, it really needs its own special attention when it comes to risk management,” Bone said. “And things like threat intelligence and things like standing up information security programs, they have to be a little tweaked to work well for crypto.”

Currency crisis. Crypto-related cybercrimes are a huge and costly problem. Almost $1.93 billion was lost in crypto-related crimes in H1 2025, according to Kroll cyber threat intelligence data. IT Brew previously reported on a crypto-stealing threat actor group that swindled millions of dollars through an elaborate malware scheme. Malicious actors have also leveraged well-known brands to deceive and defraud crypto from victims.

It’s not a regular ISAC. It’s a cool ISAC. Bone said the Crypto ISAC is fortunate to be a “modern ISAC,” formed at a time when AI can aid its threat intelligence. In its inaugural years, Bone said the Crypto ISAC made sure it had the qualified experts and resources to address threats in the crypto industry. Now, it's ready to look at how it can sit at the intersection of digital currency and the traditional banking sector.

“We’re going to be engaging with our bank clients and our other financial services members to connect the dots, to integrate their excellent infrastructure, security infrastructure, with these new types of data sets and these new types of insights,” Bone said.

“For example, a financial institution that’s offering crypto payments or crypto trading or crypto wallet connectivity, this type of threat intelligence is invaluable…So, we’re going to be looking at integrating in a contemporary way,” she added.