Revealing crypto exchange’s physical location was not harmful, court rules
According to court records filed Sept. 22, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Payward Inc. — the owner of Kraken — against former employee Nathan Peter Runyon for misappropriating “trade secrets” by publicly disclosing the exchange’s physical address in San Francisco and accessing one of the company’s protected computers. The Judge ruled that Payward was not alleging Runyon used the address to gain an economic advantage, nor did the complaint include facts that accessing the computer caused “damage or loss, in any amount, to Payward.".
Runyon published the address in a November 2019 lawsuit he filed against the exchange in connection with alleged breach of contract and sanctions violations. Payward filed the suit against Runyon in March, stating that keeping its address secret protects it from physical threats including workers being kidnapped.