The Largest User Data Breach Ever 🫢
💡 Daily Reminder: Stay humble, stack sats
Bitcoiners,
If you ever bought, sold, or transacted Bitcoin on a regulated KYC exchange, you are at risk of having all your private information leaked.
Earlier this year, Celsius, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange with millions of users filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing released earlier today includes all the names, dates, transactions, and amounts of every single user on the platform. The 14,000+ page filing can be found here.
Here is why you should consider how you interact with Bitcoin to prevent your private information from getting leaked to the public as was the case for Celsius users.
KYC
KYC (Know Your Customer) - identifying and verifying the identity of the customer through independent and reliance source of documents, data or information.
Using a KYC Bitcoin exchange is the best way to legally buy bitcoin in the United States as it adheres to Anti-Money Laundering laws like a traditional bank.
Non-KYC essentially means the opposite of KYC. Using a Non-KYC bitcoin exchange allows you to buy bitcoin that is not tied to your identity which is useful for privacy reasons. It can be considered illegal today in the United States, however, there are legitimate reasons for doing so such as the recent Celsius bankruptcy filing that doxxed all private user information.
The Risk
The are many risks involved with trusting centralized exchanges with your private information.
If your email that is connected to a KYC exchange gets leaked, bad actors can easily target other logins such as your social media accounts to exploit your password and potentially gain access to your crypto assets. Bad actors can trace your transactions on the blockchain and follow your transactions both in the past and years into the future. Lastly, when an exploit happens, your private information gets sold on dark web markets for other bad actors to potentially attack you both physically and virtually.
Privacy Considerations
If you are a Bitcoiner concerned about your private information getting leaked to the public, consider:
Buying and selling bitcoin using a Non-KYC method
Sending and receiving bitcoin using a wallet not tied to your identity
Using internet privacy tools such as a VPN
Using a mixing service (coinjoin) such as Wasabi
Happy Friday,
-Pod
If you find any value in The Bitcoin Letter, please subscribe and tell a friend. By subscribing, you will be sent easy to understand information about Bitcoin along with any relevant news daily. That’s it. IT IS FREE AND I WILL NOT SPAM YOU!
BUY BITCOIN RIGHT NOW
I personally use Swan Bitcoin to purchase Bitcoin! Use the link below to get $10 free dollars worth of Bitcoin. Takes less than 5 minutes to sign up and I get a small commission :)
Eric Podwojski
Founder, Bitcoin EDU
Twitter:Â @epodrulz
Disclaimer: This should go without saying: This is not financial advice. This is not investment advice. I write this newsletter for education and entertainment. Act accordingly.