Key Highlights
- Swiss Bitcoin Pay shut down its servers after a suspected hack exposed possible customer data.
- The company said email addresses, Bitcoin addresses, IBANs, transaction history and hashed passwords may have been accessed.
- The incident comes as other crypto companies, including Pocket Bitcoin and Trezor’s shipping provider, have faced similar data security problems.
Swiss Bitcoin Pay, a non-custodial payment gateway that allows businesses to accept Bitcoin payments, has temporarily shut down its servers after detecting possible unauthorized access to its internal systems.
In a Monday post on X, the company said that customer email addresses, Bitcoin addresses, IBANs, transaction history and hashed passwords may have been accessed. The company said it is investigating the incident and securing its systems.
Swiss Bitcoin Pay said it took the servers offline after detecting possible unauthorized access, allowing the company to investigate the incident and secure its infrastructure. It has not said when the service will resume.
The company said it does not yet know whether additional information was accessed beyond the data it has already identified. The company said it is still working to understand the full extent of the incident.
“User funds are safe, and any amounts owed to users will be fully returned,” Swiss Bitcoin Pay said.
Why Swiss Bitcoin Pay says user funds are safe
The company also explained why some user funds can be held on its platform, after a user questioned its statement about keeping funds safe while describing itself as non-custodial.
Swiss Bitcoin Pay said it automatically combines incoming Lightning transactions into one on-chain UTXO on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Because of this process, the company said it may temporarily hold some user funds on the platform. It added that these are generally not large amounts.
The company has not given users a date for when normal service will return. Instead, it said it is working to secure its infrastructure properly before bringing the platform back online.
Data breaches are piling up in crypto space
This incident is one of several recent data-security incidents involving crypto companies and services.
For instance, Swiss Bitcoin financial services provider Pocket Bitcoin disclosed a security incident that exposed information belonging to 5,120 customers. The exposed information included names, addresses, bank transfer amounts and dates, while 291 customers had more sensitive information exposed in some cases.
Pocket Bitcoin said the affected information came from bank correspondence and transaction lists kept in its support system. It said its customer and transaction databases were not compromised, while Bitcoin and private keys were not affected. It said there was no indication that the affected information had been misused.
Pocket Bitcoin reported the incident to data protection authorities in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as police.
HTX breach claim remains unverified
Another case involving crypto exchange HTX surfaced early this month. Cybersecurity monitoring account Dark Web Intelligence reported an unverified claim that a database containing records linked to more than 6.5 million users was being offered by a threat actor.
HTX has not confirmed that the database came from its systems or that it contains the claimed number of records. The Crypto Times also said it could not independently verify the claim.
Trezor breach exposes data of 67,000 US customers
Meanwhile, hardware wallet maker Trezor on September 4 said a breach at its shipping provider, ShipMonk, had exposed information belonging to another 67,000 US customers. The exposed details included names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and order numbers.
Trezor said its own systems were not compromised and that users’ devices remained secure.
In short, these security breaches are piling up, showing that they are becoming a repeated problem across the crypto space. From customer names and bank details to Bitcoin addresses and other personal information, several recent cases have involved sensitive user data being exposed or claimed to have been exposed.
For Swiss Bitcoin Pay users, the investigation is now the next step. The company has taken its servers offline, said some customer information may have been exposed and has promised to return any money owed to users. For now, there is no reopening date.
Also Read: Revolut Hackers Begin Leaking Customer Passports and Selfies, Threaten Daily Dumps
