Lender of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Celsius Network exposed its customer data in a US court. Celsius, the bitcoin lender (quotation BTC) and other cryptocurrencies that filed for bankruptcy last June, leaked the personal data of thousands of users in 14.500-page court filing. The document shows the names, the dates of the transactions, the type of account and the amount held in cryptocurrencies.
“Now anyone could easily compare the activity on the chain and the addresses of Celsius users with the dates and amounts of the transactions,” wrote one person on Twitter.
In doing so, he warned that anyone could link the aforementioned users to their previously anonymous cryptocurrency wallets and see their crypto-asset holdings, as well as all transactions made.
The information was confirmed by crypto-currency, which by entering the name of a member of its team obtained all the movements made on the Celsius platform, along with other financial data. Although the court document is no longer online, the information is still available on the internet.
So far it is not known why user information has been leaked. However, the company appears to have complied with a federal court rule that requires personal data to be included in court documents, as specified in an order issued by the United States Department of Justice.
Alarm in the bitcoin community
The bitcoin community took to Twitter to express their outrage and rejection of the move. Among their fears is that the information now available to anyone can be exploited by criminals. While users' whereabouts are not disclosed, this information can be found separately, especially to identify owners with the largest amount of cryptocurrencies.
Other members of the cryptocurrency community, such as Nick Hansen, Luxor's CEO and cofounder, said on Twitter that "this Celsius leak could be considered one of the biggest customer information breaches."
It is also remembered that in the information age, data is the most valuable asset. Therefore, in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, users have the option of avoiding the KYC or “Know Your Customer” procedures required by centralized services.
As the investigation into Celsius proceeds, its users are still waiting for their losses to be written off, after their funds were trapped on the platform during the liquidity crisis a few months ago.
Celsius blocked all withdrawals indefinitely in June and filed for bankruptcy the following month, leaving users with nothing. The company owes them about $ 4,7 billion after it fell under Chapter 2022 bankruptcy protection in July 11, revealing a $ 1,2 billion hole in its balance sheet.
