Companies Increasingly Facing Class Actions Connected To Cryptocurrency Theft

A recent class action refiled in federal court against Shopify highlights a growing trend of lawsuits against companies related to the theft of cryptocurrency, particularly as a result of internal company threats. See Forsberg et al v. Shopify, Inc. et al, 1:22-cv-00436 (D. Del.). Despite not itself being a repository for or facilitating the sale of any cryptocurrency, the plaintiffs in the Shopify case allege that Shopify is liable for a theft of cryptocurrency after Shopify experienced a data breach caused by its own employees, which exposed a customer list for a cryptocurrency hardware wallet vendor, Ledger SAS. As cryptocurrency storage and related transactions increasingly feature in companies' online presence, there is likely to be a growing risk posed by threat actors motivated to target crypto-related assets and data, and more litigation activity in this space. According to the complaint, the Shopify case arose from a 2020 data breach. In the cryptocurrency