Hackers reveal the code of El Salvador’s Bitcoin wallet app Chivo
2 min readHackers released more information about El Salvador’s state-owned Bitcoin wallet Chivo on April 23, after leaking the personal information of millions of users earlier this month.
The hacker group CiberInteligenciaSV published part of the software wallet’s source code on BreachForums – a black hat hacking forum.
El Salvador Hackers strike again
“This time I bring you the code that is in the Bitcoin Chivo Wallet ATMs in El Salvador. Remember that this is a government wallet and as you know we do not sell but publish everything for free for you,” the hacker group wrote.
The cybersecurity project VenariX warned on Monday of an impending data leak in the Chivo source code, citing a post from the hacker group’s Telegram channel.
El grupo #hacker #CiberInteligenciaElSalvador, anuncia en su cuenta de Telegram que publicará parte del código fuente y accesos VPN de #Chivo #Wallet (@chivowallet), la billetera oficial de #Bitcoin y #Dólar creada por el #Gobierno de #ElSalvador 🇸🇻 (@Gobierno_SV)… pic.twitter.com/AUG8PM1VN8
— VenariX en Español (@_venarixES_) April 22, 2024
“Tonight we will be releasing some of the source code and VPN access that comes with Chivo Wallet, free as always, unless any of you nosy government folks want to talk,” CiberInteligenciaSV’s Telegram post said.
The same group released over 144GB of data containing the personal information of 5.1 million Salvadorans who downloaded the wallet. Although the wallet has been available through various channels since August, it was only released for download on April 5th.
The information stolen included each user’s full name, unique identification number, date of birth, address and an HD image of their face.
The information leaked this week also included the Codigo.rar file, which contained code and VPN credentials for ElSalvador’s Chivo ATM network.
The country’s government has yet to make an official statement about this month’s two hacks.
The introduction of the wallet in El Salvador
El Salvador first released Chivo in September 2021, alongside the official adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. The law meant that Bitcoin could be used as official tender – including for tax payments – alongside the US dollar, without incurring capital gains tax when that Bitcoin was sold or traded.
Chivo’s launch got off to a rocky start as users reported many software bugs and technical issues affecting the software. Some have not received the $30 promised by the president for downloading the wallet, while others have had problems withdrawing their money from Chivo ATMs.
Late last year, the Salvadoran government announced that it would install Lightning Network technology at over 100 Chivo ATMs across the country in the fourth quarter. The technology can theoretically allow Salvadorans to deposit and withdraw Bitcoin faster and with lower fees .
A Salvadoran newspaper reported in October that less than 2% of the population actually uses the wallet for transfers, which should have been one of its main selling points.
Crypto exchanges with the lowest fees 2024
