Starting next week, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck will begin reimbursing investors who were affected by the $530 million heist that the exchange suffered in January. The funds for reimbursement will be coming from Coincheck's coffers and will be in the Japanese Yen.
The sheer value lost in the Coincheck heist was cited by many as contributing to the poor market performance of cryptocurrencies globally at the start of this year. In addition to the reimbursement the exchange will also resume some trading services of certain cryptocurrencies from next week.
Although there has been much speculation and some finger pointing to North Korean hackers, it is still unclear as to who was behind the heist and no culprit has been arrested yet. The Japanese authorities did enter the Coincheck offices in February in a bid to ensure security for users according to Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso.
The cryptocurrency stolen in the heist is called NEM, it is the 10th largest cryptocurrency in the world. Although new registrations and most of Coincheck's services have been suspended since the heist, it has continued processing bitcoin exchange services. It also began allowing withdrawals last week.
Japan was the first country in the world to introduce regulations to the cryptocurrency sector, however, these regulations have been brought into question following the heist. With the reimbursement process now being given an actual start date, Coincheck, which is Asia's largest cryptocurrency exchange, will be on track to resume full services to its customers.
Sources: Reuters, Coincheck |Image via Tokyo Reporter
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