Coincheck Gets Cryptocurrency Exchange License
Japanese regulators were much in the news recently as they refused to approve Bitcoin ETFs in the country. However, the latest decision by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) will make crypto believers cheery. The regulators in the country have given approval to the popular crypto exchange Coincheck to operate their business in Japan.
Coincheck, which got hacked back in January 2018 has announced that it has been registered as a cryptocurrency exchange with the Kanto Financial Bureau. It adds that FSA has fully allowed the exchange platform to continue its services in the country. We know that Coincheck had gone through a largely influential hacker’s attack in early 2018. In the attack, the exchange lost around $534 million worth NEM tokens. Coincheck was considered as largest cryptocurrency exchange in Japan at the time.
After that, the platform had to halt all its services in the country. All of these caused FSA, the country’s financial watchdog to tighten leashes over the business practices of the crypto exchanges in Japan. By now, in the Japanese market, the number of officially sanctioned exchanges is slowly increasing.
After the hack, the exchange had received multiple warnings for maintaining a sub-par operational environment, from the FSA. Coincheck explained its stance in the official press release, “Coincheck has given a full explanation to the agency on the firm’s business descriptions, plans, and basic philosophy on risk management, as well as on the development of the firm’s governance with concrete internal controls and customer protection in mind.”
Post-hack, a Japanese online trading firm Monex acquired the hacked exchange giant for over $33.5 million. Monex was aimed to rebuild the exchange platform out of its new acquisition. Monex restarted the exchange services while enabling its user base to trade cryptocurrencies. Japan has been applying regulations over the country regarding cryptos. Even after stricter rules, smaller-scale hacks have occurred. One such shocking hack was experienced by Zaif exchange.
In Coincheck’s announcement of successful registration, it further notes, “With the registration as a cryptocurrency exchange agency serving as a milestone, Coincheck strives to continue offering reliable services for our current and prospective customers in a safe and stable manner. Coincheck is also committed to further strengthening security and enhancing usability.”
