Coincheck is a Japanese

bitcoin wallet Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distri ...

and exchange service headquartered in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It operates exchanges between

bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

and

fiat currencies Fiat money (from la, fiat, "let it be done") is a type of currency that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver. It is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender. Throughout history, fiat money was sometime ...

in Japan, and bitcoin transactions and storage in some countries. In April 2018, Coincheck was acquired by

Monex Group is a financial services company based in Tokyo, Japan. Monex Inc., its main subsidiary, engages in online securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal de ...

for 3.6 billion

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

. (US33.4 million) Coincheck since 2016 has been the trademark name of a numismatic supply company located and trademark registered in the United States since 2016.

History

Coincheck started in August 2014 and is operated by Coincheck, inc. (previously ResuPress, inc) (founded in 2012). There were then more than 2,200 merchants using their bitcoin payment solution, just in Japan. Coincheck is a member of JBA (Japan Blockchain Association) and is actively helping to build the Japanese bitcoin community's usage standards with the government. Coincheck partnered with SEKAI to support Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwan investors to buy Japanese real estate with bitcoin.

2018 hacking incident

In January 2018, Coincheck was hacked and approximately 500 million NEM tokens ($530 million) were stolen. The currency was transferred through a total of nineteen accounts, one of which was found to have no connection with the hacker. The hack led two of Japan's crypto-currency trade groups to merge into a new

self-regulatory organization A self-regulatory organization (SRO) is an organization that exercises some degree of regulatory authority over an industry or profession. The regulatory authority could exist in place of government regulation, or applied in addition to governmen ...

. The

Financial Services Agency The is a Japanese government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors in order to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan. The agency operates w ...

took administrative action by ordering Coincheck to improve its security practices, but did not order the exchange to shut down out of a concern for the protection of its users. Coincheck initially announced that it may not be able to compensate all users affected by the hack, but then announced that it would repay all 260,000 users affected in Japanese yen using its own capital. As of February 2021, the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office has charged 31 individuals for their involvement in transactions of stolen NEM tokens. In total, these individuals converted around 18.8 billion yen of stolen coins into other cryptocurrencies.

References

{{Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin exchanges Cryptocurrencies Japanese companies established in 2014 Bitcoin companies Internet technology companies of Japan Companies based in Tokyo Cryptocurrency theft