Hacking Rumors Lead To Coincheck Halting Operations, $723 Million Withdrawn

Coincheck, Japan’s most prolific cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked. The digital currency platform was hacked on January 26, 2017. Following the hack, the digital currency exchange had to close operations, which would give room for fixing the issue. The hack is said to be of a large-scale. During the hack, $123 million worth of Ripple was withdrawn from the system. An additional 500 million NEM was also withdrawn. Following the hack, Lon Wong, the president of the exchange expressed his regrets. Through his Twitter handle, Lon said it is unfortunate that Coincheck has been hacked.

Was There $723 Million Payouts From Coincheck Hack?

“It’s unfortunate that Coincheck got hacked. But we are doing everything we can to help,” Lon’s tweet read. After news about the hack reaches the public, the price of NEM dropped sharply. It went down by 19 percent. Following the incident, some things happened fast. In fact, it was shortly after the CEO’s tweet that various media houses thronged outside the exchange’s headquarters in Tokyo. Multiple media houses sent their reporters to collect the correct information. A lot of people were seen assembling the exchange’s entrance.

Coincheck Makes Announcement

Shortly after various media reporters assembled outside the offices, Coincheck made an announcement. The central message was to inform the public of what had happened. Further, the exchange announced that it had halted operations. Despite the tweet from the tweet from NEM’s president, Coincheck is yet to confirm hacking claims. In a blog post that came in, later on, 27th Coincheck reiterated its stand on the halting of services.

NEM Deposits on Coincheck Are Restricted

“Depositing NEM on Coincheck is currently being restricted. Deposits made to your account will not be reflected in your balance. We advise all users to refrain from making deposits until the restriction has been lifted. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused everyone,” Coincheck wrote.

After the initial announcement, Coincheck updated their blog post severally. Remember that the first announcement was about the halting of operations. Then it was about the purchase as well as the sale of NEM. Later, it specifically said that there would be no more withdrawals.

Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange In Japan

Coincheck is a large cryptocurrency in Japan. The exchange was formed in 2014. This is the same year that Mt. Gox was pronounced bankrupt. Although the exchange has not confirmed hacking allegations, everything shows that it is true. NEM CEO has since not pulled down his tweet. It is still speaking volumes.

Coincheck is a Japanese based digital asset or cryptocurrency trading platform that was established in 2014. The parent company that owns this company is Monex Group, Inc. However, Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka founded the company, First of all, it starts off as a regular Bitcoin wallet and eventually turns into a full Bitcoin and digital currency exchange. In 2018, the Monex Group acquires Coincheck for 3.6 billion yen/dollars.

Coincheck is a trusted member of the Japan Blockchain Association, which is also known as JBA. They are a group that tries to help the Japanese Bitcoin business community comply with the Governments rules, laws and regulations.

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