On July 14, Bitpoint Japan, a cryptocurrency exchange operated by Remixpoint, a TSE 2nd section listed company engaged in the financial and energy businesses in Japan, reported cryptocurrencies valued at about JPY 3.02 billion (about USD 28 million) had been stolen through unauthorized access on July 12.

 

Of the JPY 3.02 billion stolen, about JPY 2.06 billion (about USD 19 million) belonged to customers and about JPY 960 million (about USD 8.9 million) were Bitpoint assets. In addition, it has been confirmed that an additional JPY 250 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen from overseas exchanges using a trading system provided by Bitpoint.

 

Regarding cryptocurrencies belonging to customers, Bitpoint reported that it had procured all five of the stolen cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP), and their value was equivalent to that of the stolen cryptocurrencies. Bitpoint has suspended all services, including the opening of new accounts, and the company has commented about the future: “We will make every effort to identify the cause, develop preventive measures, and review our business management system as soon as practicable, while seeking support from outside experts, and strive to continue our business.”

 

Following the incident, remix point’s shares fell by the daily limit. In addition to short-term concerns over business performance, there are worries over the impacts on the company’s mid-term performance due to a reduction in credibility and a tightening of regulations by the Financial Services Agency.

 

In Japan, Coincheck, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, lost cryptocurrencies worth about JPY 58.0 billion (about USD 540 million), due to hacking in January 2018, and Zaif lost cryptocurrencies worth about JPY 6.7 billion in September 2018. Following these incidents, the two exchanges were acquired by listed companies in Japan to facilitate business improvement. However, the circumstances are slightly different this time because Bitpoint is already a subsidiary of a listed company. Whether the recent incident will accelerate a restructuring of the cryptocurrency industry in Japan or result in the implementation of more stringent regulations on exchanges in Japan is attracting growing attention.

 

*This article was written by Fisco