Crypto exchange Binance offers a reward of Rs 2.03cr for info on blackmailer

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has offered a reward of $290,000 (Rs 2.03 crore) for information on a blackmailer threatening to release customer data.

The 'unidentified individual' has demanded 300 bitcoins in exchange for 10,000 photos that resemble Binance know-your-customer (KYC) data, the cryptocurrency exchange said in a statement.

“At present, no evidence has been supplied which could indicate that the KYC images were obtained from Binance. Moreover, these images do not contain the digital watermark imprinted by our system," it said.

The company said it is investigating the situation with the help of a third-party vendor.

Binance Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao tweeted about the investigation, asking people not to believe the 'KYC leak'.

Don't fall into the "KYC leak" FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly.

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— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) August 7, 2019

Binance, headquartered in Malta, was founded by Zhao in 2017. Asian cryptocurrency exchanges have become popular as their guidelines are believed to be less stringent.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are often soft targets for hackers, with over $1.5 billion stolen from exchanges in the past 10 years, according to a report.