Paolo Ardoino, Bitfinex's Chief Technology Officer, confirmed that recent allegations of a database breach at the cryptocurrency exchange are “fake.”
Bitfinex CTO Says Alleged Database Breach Was 'Fake'
Bitfinex data breach allegations began circulating on social media last Saturday, following a tweet from Alice from Shinoji Research.
The tweet, which was later deleted, suggested that Bitfinex was the subject of a large-scale data breach by hacker group FSociety on April 26.
The tweet was reported by Walter Bloomberg, a breaking news account with more than 732,000 followers.
Citing Shinoji Research, Walter Bloomberg tweeted that Bitfinex's data, which included 2.5 Terabytes of information and personal information of 400,000 users, had been hacked.
Alice from Shinoji Research later corrected the information, saying: “It appears that this 'Flocker' group created a list of Bitfinex logins from other breaches. They then disguised the site as a ransom demand for a major breach.”
Ardoino reiterated in his statements that Bitfinex's user database was not breached and that the alleged hackers published a list of emails and passwords stolen from other breaches.
“Unfortunately, many users use the same email/password across many services, including crypto exchanges,” Ardoino said.
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of unique passwords for each online service, especially platforms that process sensitive financial information.
*This is not investment advice.