Just a month after becoming the first Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform to be registered by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Coinsquare suffered a data breach that compromised users’ personal information.
On November 19, Coinsquare had to temporarily shut down its operations to investigate unusual activity on its platform. However, several days of proactive measures allowed Coinsquare to gradually resume operations.
We will be re-enabling crypto deposits shortly after the maintenance window with crypto withdrawals to follow shortly after.
—Coinsquare (@Coinsquare) November 22, 2022
We will re-enable cryptocurrency deposits shortly after the maintenance window and cryptocurrency withdrawals will follow shortly thereafter.
In a follow-up email to investors, Coinsquare admitted that its customer database with personal information was exposed during the incident, which was most likely accessed by a third party.
The leaked database included users’ personal information, such as names, email addresses, residential addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, device IDs, public wallet addresses, transaction history, and account balances. Coinsquare further confirmed that no passwords were exposed, adding that:
“We see that your assets have always been, and continue to be, safe in cold storage and not at risk.”
Although the exchange has not detected that any bad actors have accessed the compromised information, the official statement warns users to change their passwords, enable two-factor authentication (2FA) and use different credentials for different platforms.
Coinsquare has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Bitvo was able to backtrack on its acquisition deal with FTX thanks to the deal’s lengthy approval process by local regulators.
The firm emphasized that its operations have not been affected, as Bitvo does not have any material exposure to FTX or any of its affiliated entities.
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