Pocket Bitcoin Data Breach: When Name, Home Address and Bitcoin Address Circulate Together

Data belonging to 5,411 customers of the Swiss Bitcoin service Pocket Bitcoin has been exposed, according to the company. For 291 of them, the provider's breakdown says the Bitcoin addresses they used for their purchases were also included, along with copies of identity documents and evidence on the source of funds. That combination is precisely the part that reaches beyond the individual case: a name next to a Bitcoin address cannot be taken back, because the blockchain preserves every movement of that address in public view.

The coins themselves are not affected, according to the company. Even so, the incident is worth reading for anyone who buys Bitcoin through a provider and has it paid out to their own wallet. The same pairing of identity data and receiving address arises with every purchase, every withdrawal and every address authorisation, in Germany as elsewhere. The incident shows what becomes of it once it leaves the building.

What happened in the Pocket Bitcoin data breach

Pocket Bitcoin is a Swiss provider that converts incoming bank transfers into Bitcoin and sends the coins directly to the customer's wallet. By its own account the company holds no keys; it is what is known as a non-custodial service. Non-custodial means the provider can no longer dispose of the coins after payout, because the private key stays with the user.

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