On Wednesday 19th September 2018, the Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif’, which operates from Osaka under the management of Tech Bureau Corp, stated that its system had been hacked leading to a loss of almost 6.7 billion yen (approximately, $59.7 million) in cryptocurrency. 4.5 billion yen of the stolen money belonged to their clients’ cryptocurrency balances and the rest- 2.2 billion yen- were company assets.
The giant crypto exchange realized a server error on 17th September and immediately the company suspended all cryptocurrency deposits and withdraws, and placed the notice below on its website:
“Thank you very much for using the virtual currency exchange “Zaif” on a daily basis. Currently, deposit/withdrawal of multiple virtual currencies and settlement services are suspended. Regarding the circumstances and prospects of this matter, please read our press release. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to our customers. We look forward to your continued support of the virtual currency exchange “Zaif.”
Further Analysis
The management reported that after further examination, it established that hackers utilized illegal access to the company’s hot wallets and took approximately $60 million in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and MonaCoin. However, the specific amount of BCH stolen was not revealed.
The management further reported that since the Zaif property reserve was recently around 2.2 billion yen ($20 million), it had settled on an agreement with another Japanese company known as Fisco to grant it a $44.5 million investment in exchange for a big stake of proprietorship.
Steps Taken by the Management so far
Tech Bureau stated that considering the nature of the illegal asset access, it has reported the occurrence as a criminal case to the Japanese authorities for proper investigation.
The Zaif theft is the second crypto theft in Japan in 2018. Earlier on, Coincheck also testified that a whopping $520 million inform of NEM tokens were whipped by hackers.
Thorough Inspections on Japanese Crypto Exchanges by FSA
As an upshot of Coincheck’s chop, the Financial Service Agency (FSA)- a Japanese watchdog- has started thorough inspections on all Japanese crypto exchanges concerning their security details.
The body had initially given a business advancement order to Tech Bureau in March concerning its security and anti-money laundering measures.
