Millions Vanish from Crypto Exchange
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck left stupefied after a hack resulted in the theft of $532 million digital tokens.
The company disclosed over the weekend hackers had stolen about $532 million worth of its digital holdings. If the figure is confirmed, the crypto burglary will be the largest to date. Coincheck acknowledged the theft on its company blog and later agreed to compensate investors.
Coincheck is one of the larger cryptocurrency exchanges based in Japan. The firm was among the initial batch of companies to apply for a cryptocurrency dealer license from the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA).
However Coincheck’s application remains under review, more than four months after filing, and is not a registered operator. The firm notified both police and the financial regulator.
More to Come?
Tokyo was also the location for the last major crypto theft when Mt. Gox the world's largest bitcoin exchange lost $460 million to hackers in 2014. Last year economist Éric Pichet told French newspaper La Tribune (French), that bitcoin will die of grand theft.
With its open-minded approach to digital currency trading Japan has been attracting crypto exchange operators, particularly from other parts of Asia. Wary financial regulators in all other Asian finance capitals remain reluctant to legislate on the digital asset.
