Binance Denies Claims of KYC Data Leak

Crypto exchange Binance has responded to the publically available leaked Know Your Customer (KYC) Know Your Customer (KYC) Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process via which the broker is verifying the true identity of its clients in order to comply with multiple regulations. KYC is used to assess the suitability of customers when it comes to anti-money laundering regulations, any type of financial fraud and determining whether they are potentially risky for the brokerage.In particular, KYC guidelines in financial services mandate that individuals make a cohesive effort to verify the identity, suitability, and risks Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process via which the broker is verifying the true identity of its clients in order to comply with multiple regulations. KYC is used to assess the suitability of customers when it comes to anti-money laundering regulations, any type of financial fraud and determining whether they are potentially risky for the brokerage.In particular, KYC guidelines in financial services mandate that individuals make a cohesive effort to verify the identity, suitability, and risks Read this Term) information of its customers, denying any breach of the exchange’s security.

The founder and CEO of the exchange also tweeted, calling the KYC leak a “FUD.” He also assured that the exchange is currently investigating the issue.

Don't fall into the "KYC leak" FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly.

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) August 7, 2019

FUD or a serious issue?

The chaos within the crypto trading community started when a Telegram channel started to post the KYC information of Binance users, including photos, passports, and IDs. The channel also gained thousands of followers in recent hours.

“First and foremost, there are inconsistencies when comparing this data to the data in our system. At the present time, no evidence has been supplied that indicates any KYC images have been obtained from Binance, as these images do not contain the digital watermark imprinted by our system,” Binace wrote in its official statement.

According to the exchange, the recently leaked KYC information was from a previously leaked data set in early 2018, when the exchange’s KYC process was handled by a third-party vendor.

“On initial review of the images made public, they all appear to be dated from February of 2018, at which time Binance had contracted a third-party vendor for KYC verification in order to handle the high volume of requests at that time,” Binance noted.

“Our security team is hard at work pursuing all possible Leads Leads Leads or lead generation are an essential component of marketing and powerful tool by brokers. In its simplest form, leads can be defined as the outreach of customer interest or enquiry into products or services, most often associated with brokerages.These can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition, or for sales leads. Amongst marketers, such lists are one of their most important assets and instrumental to sales.There are a variety of methods for generating Leads or lead generation are an essential component of marketing and powerful tool by brokers. In its simplest form, leads can be defined as the outreach of customer interest or enquiry into products or services, most often associated with brokerages.These can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition, or for sales leads. Amongst marketers, such lists are one of their most important assets and instrumental to sales.There are a variety of methods for generating Read this Term in an attempt to identify the source of these images.”

The exchange also detailed that a perpetrator was trying to extort digital currencies from it, and as the exchange denied the payout, the individual published the information in public.

“We would like to inform you that an unidentified individual has threatened and harassed us, demanding 300 BTC in exchange for withholding 10,000 photos that bear similarity to Binance KYC data,” the exchange added.

Meanwhile, the exchange was hacked earlier this year resulting in the theft of 7,000 Bitcoins.