The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) and a crypto industry self-regulatory body have both taken action following last week’s $60 million hack on licensed Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif, Cointelegraph reports.
The hack, which has been publicly acknowledged by the company, took place over two hours on Friday, September 14th, but reportedly was not detected until Monday.
During the attack, hackers made off with volumes of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and MonaCoin being stored by the exchange in “hot wallets” connected directly to the Internet.
Sources say that Zaif had already received two security warnings from the FSA this year, one in March and another in June. Citations listed “system failure” and “fraudulent withdrawals,” but Zaif remained open for trading.
The FSA is now investigating whether Zaif’s parent company, Tech Bureau, will be able to fulfill its promise to restore customer funds.
Tech Bureau has said it will cover customer losses after it is acquired by FISCO, “a professional group that provides superb investment support services,” reportedly in line to acquire a majority stake in Tech Bureau.
Japanese police recently claimed that cryptocurrency thefts in Japan tripled in the first six months of 2018.
In the aftermath of the latest hack, the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), an industry self-regulator, has encouraged local crypto exchanges to ensure the security of their operations, and exchanges BitFlyer and Quoine have already reported that their systems are sound.
このたび当社にて発生いたしました仮想通貨の流出事件におきまして、お客様にご迷惑をおかけしておりますことを深くお詫び申し上げます。この度の対応としてユーザーサポート営業時間を一時的に変更し、メールサポート、専用窓口共に土日祝（10時〜17時半）も稼働いたします。
— Zaif – 暗号通貨取引所 (@zaifdotjp) September 23, 2018
