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Russian hacker claims to have 20GB of Mt. Gox customer data

March 4, 2014

For Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, the crises just keep coming.

Yesterday, it seemed the worst news was that the company had lost $500 million of its customers' money and was bankrupt. But today, word surfaced that the company had lost track of its customers' personal information, as well.

Tech pub TechCrunch reported today that a Russian hacker claims to have acquired 20GB worth of customer data, including passport scans used for identification.

In addition, the Russian — who goes by "nanashi_." — claims to have 1,700 lines of source code used for Bitcoin trades on Mt. Gox.

The code has been uploaded to the Web, but the passport information has not, according to an Internet relay chat purportedly from nanashi_., who said, "(I) just want to show truth."

Mt. Gox woes not withstanding, Bitcoin ATM installations are still moving foward. Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported today that Dublin will get its first unit "in the next couple of days."

The cash in-only machine at Hippety's Cafe, Wine Bar and Gallery in Temple Bar will be owned and operated by a company called Bitvendo that the broadcaster described as a consortium of Bitcoin investors from three continents.