Binance User Data Sold On Dark Web, Crypto Exchange Investigate Leaks

Binance experienced data leakage. (Photo; Doc. LuizTools)

JAKARTA - Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, faces a data security threat after a forum on illegal website dark web claims to have verified user data from the platform. The data offered for sale includes the name, country of origin, and the user's phone number Binance. This could jeopardize user privacy and security if the data is correct and falls into the wrong hands.

The forum on the dark web says that the data they have comes from English users who come from Tier 1 countries, namely countries with developed economies and a growing crypto market. Sellers claim that the data can be verified by trying to login to binance.com using the phone number in the data or by contacting users directly.

However, there is no evidence yet to confirm the truth of the claim. Binance itself has not provided an official response regarding this alleged data leak. The crypto exchange has also not confirmed whether the data sold on the dark web comes from their system or from other sources.

Not the first

This is not the first time Binance has faced a data leak problem. In 2019, Binance revealed that it was investigating allegations of leakage of subscriber verification information, which includes photos used for the Know Your Customer (KYC) process.

At that time, Binance denied that the data came from their system, and showed there was a difference between the leaked data and the data they had. Binance also confirmed that the leaked data does not have a digital water stamp commonly used by their system.

The incident in 2019 allegedly involved a hacker who threatened to publish 10,000 photos of KYC Binance unless Binance was willing to pay a ransom of 300 BTC (approximately IDR 71.3 billion). Binance refused to comply with the request, and said they would cooperate with law enforcement to deal with the matter.

Given previous cases, the current situation raises questions about the validity of data sold on the dark web. The dark web is part of the internet that cannot be accessed in general, and is often used for illegal activities, such as drug trading, weapons, and personal data. It is difficult to determine the origin and authenticity of data sold on the dark web, both for affected parties and users.

Binance is a crypto exchange that is popular among crypto users, with daily trading volumes reaching 25.6 billion US dollars (around Rp 401.8 trillion). Binance offers various services, such as spot trading, margins, futures, options, and tokenized shares. Binance also has an original token called Binance Coin (BNB), which is one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world with a market capitalization of 77.6 billion US dollars (around Rp 1.217.6 trillion).