Waltio, a France-based cryptocurrency tax reporting platform, is facing extortion threats from ShinyHunters, a notorious ransomware group that claims to possess personal data belonging to nearly 50,000 users.
According to reports, ShinyHunters is demanding a ransom and has threatened to leak users’ 2024 tax reports if payment is not made. The group has a history of high-profile attacks against major corporations and cryptocurrency-related businesses.
Waltio confirmed that while user data may have been exposed, its core services and production systems remain secure. The company stated that no banking credentials, crypto wallet access, or private financial keys were compromised, and that customer funds are not at risk.
In response to the incident, Waltio has filed an official complaint with France’s cybercrime unit and is cooperating with authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.
ShinyHunters has previously been linked to several prominent extortion cases, including a reported ransom demand of six bitcoins from AT&T, threats to release Ticketmaster customer data, and attacks targeting major Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, according to reporting by Protos.
The incident highlights continued security and privacy challenges facing crypto-adjacent platforms, particularly those handling sensitive financial and tax-related information, as ransomware groups increasingly focus on data extortion rather than system disruption.
