National / Crime & Legal Aug 19, 2020
The perpetrator of the hack has not been identified, but Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department is continuing its investigation.
National / Crime & Legal Mar 11, 2020
Tokyo police arrest two for receiving stolen NEM cryptocurrency
Tokyo police arrested two men on Wednesday for alleged possession of NEM, a cryptocurrency, that they knew was stolen in a massive cyberattack on a Japanese startup in 2018, according to investigative sources. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested a doctor in his 30s from Hokkaido ...
Business / Financial Markets Jan 12, 2019
Coincheck wins approval to run cryptocurrency exchange a year after massive theft
About a year after a massive digital heist that shocked the cryptocurrency industry around the world, Japan's financial watchdog gave Coincheck Inc. the green light Friday to officially run a virtual currency exchange. Following the Coincheck hacking case in late January that cost the Tokyo-based ...
Business Jan 11, 2019
Hit by tougher standards and falling prices, Japan's cryptocurrency players face a pivotal 2019
by Kazuaki Nagata
Japanese crypto-exchange operators unexpectedly faced major problems last year due to the unprecedented hack in late January of Tokyo-based Coincheck Inc., which lost digital tokens estimated at the time to be worth ¥58 billion and caused commotion across the industry. This has prompted the country's ...
Business Jan 1, 2019
The Japan Times newsroom selected the following business news stories as the most important of 2018.
Business | FOCUS Apr 10, 2018
Small cryptocurrency exchanges find the going hard under greater government oversight
by Kazuaki Nagata
With the Financial Services Agency implementing greater oversight in the wake of the ¥58 billion Coincheck heist, many young and small cryptocurrency exchanges are finding it difficult to conduct business and looking to call it quits. In early March, the FSA rocked the cryptocurrency exchange ...
Business Apr 6, 2018
Online brokerage Monex to acquire cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck
by Kazuaki Nagata
Troubled exchange that was hit by a massive cybertheft earlier this year will be sold for ¥3.6 billion and become wholly owned subsidiary.
Business Apr 6, 2018
Japan's cryptocurrency exchanges held back by shortage of engineers
by Thomas Wilson
When cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc. explained how hackers were able to make off with $530 million (¥56.7 billion) in digital money, it noted that part of the problem had been beyond its control; the firm had struggled amid Japan's shortage of software engineers. Coincheck said ...
Business Apr 5, 2018
Monex to acquire Coincheck to get cryptocurrency foothold: sources
Coincheck Inc., the cryptocurrency exchange hit by a massive theft earlier this year, has accepted a takeover bid by online brokerage Monex Group Inc., sources said Thursday. The acquisition will be officially announced Friday. Monex Group is planning to appoint Toshihiko Katsuya, its chief operating ...
Business Apr 3, 2018
Monex eyes acquisition of troubled cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck
Monex aims to enter the virtual currency business by acquiring Coincheck, which was hit by a massive hack in January that stole ¥58 billion worth of NEM cryptocurrency.
Business Mar 29, 2018
Unregulated ICOs threaten funding source for startups
by Kazuaki Nagata
The rising cryptocurrency boom has sparked a fundraising scheme called initial coin offerings that have become a money-pumping machine for startups but also have a problematic reputation. Masahiro Yasu, 29, chief executive officer of Tokyo-based startup Alis Co., experienced the power of the ICO when ...
Business Mar 23, 2018
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by traded value, is seeking a fresh start in the Mediterranean. The company, founded last year in Hong Kong, is planning to open an office in Malta, Chief Executive Officer Zhao Changpeng said in an interview. Binance will soon ...