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Japan sanctions cryptocurrency exchanges amid illegal activity
Late last week, Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges started making (weak) moves to self-regulate. This week, Japan is cracking down on exchanges over what Reuters reports as a lack of "proper" internal control systems as a means to mitigate risk. There's also pressure to cull crypto's popularity for criminal activity. Specifically, its use for money laundering and funding terrorism.
Japan's cryptocurrency exchanges plan self-regulating committee
Government-registered cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan are setting up a self-regulation body in the region. The move, Reuters reports, is an effort to legitimize and establish trust in the area following the $530 million Coincheck theft in January. There isn't a name for the body yet and similarly, there's no word for when all the paperwork will be finalized. It follows Japan's national oversight of the sector last year, and South Korea's crypto regulation in late January.
South Korea will regulate, not ban, cryptocurrency trading
South Korea has no plans to ban cryptocurrency trading, according to government authorities. The announcement follows reports earlier this month that the country was considering shutting down trading because of tax evasion, which led to massive disruption on trading platforms around the world. However, the government does plan to tighten regulation and crack down on illegal practices within the area.
Coincheck hackers are reportedly trying to unload stolen cryptocurrency
Last week, hackers stole around $534 million worth of cryptocurrency XEM from Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck, and now, Reuters reports, the hackers behind the heist are trying to sell the stolen cryptocurrency. Jeff McDonald, vice president of the NEM Foundation, the company behind XEM, told Reuters that he had tracked down an account holding the coins and those in possession of the stolen XEM were trying to sell them on six different cryptocurrency exchanges. "He is trying to spend them on multiple exchanges. We are contacting those exchanges," said McDonald. He also told Reuters that he couldn't yet determine how much of the stolen coins had already been spent.
Coincheck loses $400 million in massive cryptocurrency heist
Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck just made history, and not in a good way. It has lost around $534 million worth of NEM tokens, one of the lesser-known cryptocurrencies, after its network was hacked on January 25th, 12:57pm EST. The attackers remained undetected for eight hours, giving them enough time to steal 523 million tokens kept in a "hot wallet," a type of storage that's connected to the internet for easy spending. While the exact value of the stolen coins are unclear due to the ever-changing nature of cryptocurrency -- it's $400 million at the very least -- Coincheck might have already lost more than what Mt. Gox did a few years ago.
