Paz freezes Bitcoin purchases at Yellow following cyber incident at Bits of Gold

The Paz Group is freezing the option to purchase Bitcoin in partnership with the crypto services company Bits of Gold, following a cyber incident reported by the company yesterday. As reported in Calcalist last month, the two companies signed a collaboration agreement allowing users of the Yellow app to convert points accumulated in the app into Bitcoin.

Yesterday, Bits of Gold reported a cyber incident that occurred several days ago, in which customer details were apparently stolen, including full names, ID numbers, email and IP addresses, and phone numbers. The incident is part of a wider global event involving a breach at the software company Meta Base, which Bits of Gold utilized. Estimates suggest hundreds of companies worldwide were affected, though at this stage, no other Israeli company is known to have been compromised.

Until the investigation is completed, Paz has decided to freeze the collaboration and remove the option to convert wallet balances into Bitcoin via Bits of Gold.

"There is no concern regarding a leak of Yellow customer data. There is no direct interface between the applications, and the service has been stopped," Paz stated.

Bits of Gold added:

"We place the utmost importance on maintaining the security of customer data. There is no direct interface between the applications for making purchases, so there is no concern about a data leak. By mutual decision, we have temporarily stopped the service with Yellow. The cooperation agreement remains valid. The rest of Bits of Gold's services continue to operate as usual, normally and fully."

For Bits of Gold, which employs about 55 people and serves approximately 250,000 registered customers, the partnership with Paz represents the most significant expansion of its B2B2C activity. The company has previously signed collaborations on similar models, including the issuance of the "MAX Back Crypto" credit card with the company MAX, as well as the option for crypto payments at the car importer Colmobil. Bits of Gold is the first of nine companies currently operating in the economy to receive a license from the Capital Market Authority for providing financial services in digital assets.