Lawsuit Filed Against Crypto Firm Juno, Evolve Bank for Alleged Negligence in Data Breach

On Thursday, August 1, 2024, Andrew Fernandez filed a class action lawsuit against CapitalJ Inc., which does business as Juno, and Evolve Bank & Trust in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The lawsuit stems from a data breach Evolve Bank disclosed last month. On June 25th, Evolve announced that a cybercriminal organization had stolen the personal information of its customers and posted it on the dark web. This information included names, contact details, bank account numbers, social security numbers, and dates of birth.

Juno is a financial technology company that allows users to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin through its mobile app. The lawsuit states that Juno used Evolve Bank as its banking partner, and in this partnership Juno transferred its customers’ data, including information provided by Andrew Fernandez and other plaintiffs, to Evolve Bank for storage.

The plaintiff argues that both Juno and Evolve Bank were negligent in protecting this sensitive personal information. The lawsuit cites Evolve Bank’s prior regulatory issues with information security and says Juno failed to properly vet Evolve Bank’s cybersecurity practices before selecting it as a partner. The plaintiff also claims the defendants took too long to notify affected customers about the breach and did not provide clear details about the incident and what specific data was exposed.

In addition to the data breach, the lawsuit notes that Juno users could not access their cryptocurrency investments for a period of time due to technical issues at Evolve Bank following the ransomware attack. The plaintiff seeks compensation for damages and out-of-pocket expenses related to credit monitoring and identity theft protection. He also requests reimbursement for time spent responding to the breach and monitoring accounts.

The class action aims to represent all Juno customers whose information was compromised in the breach. It alleges the defendants violated industry security standards and state consumer protection laws. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages as well as updates to Evolve Bank and Juno’s security practices to prevent future incidents.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.