Japan Gets Tougher On All Crypto Exchanges After Coincheck Hack

One of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges reported last week that it had been hit by a hack that resulted in the loss of $530 million worth of NEM coins. It’s one of the biggest security incidents of its kind so far this year and Japan now wants to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen to any other exchange based in the country. Japan’s Financial Services Agency is going to inspect all other cryptocurrency exchanges.

The country’s financial regulator has also sanctioned Coincheck to get a hold on things and ordered it to make improvements. Coincheck suspended trading in all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin on Friday. Coincheck has been ordered by the regulator to submit a report on the hack and detail measures for preventing something like this from happening again by February 13th.

If necessary, the regulator will also conduct on-site inspections of other cryptocurrency exchanges registered in Japan. Exchange operators in Tokyo feel that the massive Coincheck hack will lead to growing concerns about security among consumers and this might potentially put pressure on the price of cryptocurrencies.

Coincheck announced over the weekend that it would refund customers impacted by this hack with $400 million out of its own funds but it hasn’t detailed as yet how and when it’s going to do that. Japan’s FSA hasn’t confirmed if Coincheck has sufficient funds to reimburse all affected customers.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: cryptocurrencies