A dedicated Telegram group featuring the documents currently has more than 8,300 members, growing by thousands in a matter of minutes. Material posted to the group lacks the digital watermark Binance uses for its internal information, adding doubts about its authenticity.
The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance has refuted claims hackers gained access to confidential user information such as personal ID.
In a tweet Aug. 7, Changpeng Zhao described rumors circulating about the alleged know-your-customer (KYC) data leak as an attempt to spread “FUD” (fear, uncertainty and doubt).
“Don’t fall into the ‘KYC leak’ FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly”, he wrote.
CZ: “Don’t fall into the ‘KYC leak’ FUD”
Social media users had panicked earlier after what appear to be fake warnings showed figures posing with personal documents, apparently of Binance users.
“KYC is important” Telegram group member count soars
Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency platforms by volume. Last month, it introduced margin trading in a competitive move against market giant BitMEX.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Binance for comment but did not get a reply by press time. A Binance representative, however, said that an official statement is coming shortly.
Bitcoin Price Sees Steep Drop After Rejection Above $12K
The price of bitcoin’s recent rise above $12,000 was stopped short a few hours into its rally, with prices sliding by more than $1,000 over the course of the U.S. trading session that followed.
Beginning 10:15 UTC and lasting until 22:15 UTC, BTC witnessed a large pullback, followed by a small bounce near $11,200, providing temporary support. Still, bitcoin’s local daily high near $12,325 was the highest price point since July 10.
With a daily open on August 6 set at $11,800, BTC broke $12,000 at 06:45 UTC to cement a 24-hour high just under $12,300 at 10:15 UTC. From there, a 30-minute sell-off was induced, with its price falling to $11,671.
At the time of writing, BTC is currently changing hands at $11,471
The move down, however, failed to draw significant supporting volume with only 1.1 billion traded over a 24-hour period. This hints a deeper drawdown to levels near $11,200 could be possible.
Major names such as ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), XRP (XRP) and EOS (EOS) also began to fall in value at around the same time as BTC, losing between 2-6 percent over 12 hours.
