Customer data of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Genesis and lender BlockFi have been compromised due to a hack of Kroll, a third party agent that manages creditor claims on behalf of bankrupt companies.

Crypto account passwords and other sensitive data weren’t affected, but customers were warned to be on the lookout for scammers impersonating parties in the bankruptcy. Genesis and CoinDesk are part of the same parent company, Digital Currency Group.

(1/3) FTX learned that Kroll, the claims agent in the bankruptcy, experienced a cybersecurity incident that compromised non-sensitive customer data of certain claimants in the pending bankruptcy case.
— FTX (@FTX_Official) August 25, 2023

An “unauthorized third party gained access to certain BlockFi client data housed on Kroll’s platform,” BlockFi said in a tweeted statement, and FTX said it was “closely monitoring the situation.”

While internal systems at both crypto firms are intact, the incident may have raised fears that the personal information could be used by malicious actors attempting to extract still juicier details such as seed phrases or passwords.

Kroll, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk, is a bankruptcy service provider for numerous companies, not just in the crypto sector. Kroll’s website also promotes a cybersecurity consultancy service, involving “elite cyber risk leaders uniquely positioned to deliver end-to-end cyber security services worldwide.”

In a statement published on its sites for the FTX and Genesis bankruptcy cases, Kroll said the hack stemmed from a SIM-swapping attack against one of its employees. The hacker accessed online files including customers' names, addresses, email addresses and size of their claim, Kroll said.

FTX and BlockFi both filed for bankruptcy in November last year, after CoinDesk leaked details of FTX’s balance sheet, and both are undergoing legal proceedings to wind up and restore funds to creditors. Earlier this week a Delaware court heard that legal fees are draining $1.5 million per day from the estate.

UPDATE (Aug. 25, 14.41 UTC): adds statement from Kroll website, confirms Genesis was affected throughout story.

Regulations FTX BlockFi Bankruptcy Kroll

Jack Schickler

Jack Schickler was a CoinDesk reporter focused on crypto regulations, based in Brussels, Belgium. He previously wrote about financial regulation for news site MLex, before which he was a speechwriter and policy analyst at the European Commission and the U.K. Treasury. He doesn’t own any crypto.