Conflicting Reports Regarding Coincheck’s FSA Status In Japan

December 20, 2018 12:33 AM

On Wednesday, the English language business journal, the Nikkei Asian Review published an article stating that the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) had decided to grant an exchange license to Coincheck, although these claims were refuted by Monex Group the same day.

According to the article, the FSA determined that Coincheck was eligible to receive a license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan because of improvements made to “customer protections and other systems” after Coincheck was purchased by the online brokerage firm Monex Group in April.

The Monex Group’s letter refuting Nikkei’s reporting states that the claims that the FSA had approved a license for Coincheck were not based on any announcement made by the firm.

The letter also states “Coincheck, Inc. has been under review for a cryptocurrency exchange. However, there is not any fact regarding the registration that has been determined. Moving forward, should there be facts regarding Coincheck, Inc. that need to be disclosed, we will do so in a timely and appropriate manner.”

Coincheck’s Attempts At Legitimizing Itself

The 3.6 billion yen (worth approximately $32 million today) Monex Group buyout came after Coincheck was hacked and about 500 million NEM tokens, then valued at a little over $500 million, were stolen.

The hack caused the exchange to suspend an array of services including “the withdrawal of any funds, including those denominated in yen; the sale and purchase of all cryptocurrencies with the exception of bitcoin; and certain credit card and convenience store payment services.”

On the January 28, two days after the attack, Coincheck issued a notice that the exchange developed a “compensation policy” intended to reimburse approximately 260,000 people affected by the hack attack. In March, Market Watch reported that the company had successfully refunded customers, and that it spent 46.3 billion yen (roughly $435 million at the time) to do so. By that time, the exchange had also resumed some limited operations.

Then, according to a notice published by the Monex Group on October 30 of this year, “Coincheck has decided to restart its services step by step,” after the exchanges “technical safety” was confirmed by “external experts.”

Per the notice, on October 30, customers using the Coincheck exchange were once again able to open new accounts, deposit and buy BTC, ETC, LTC and BCH, send and sell cryptocurrencies tradeable on the exchange, and deposit and withdraw yen.

The notice also states that the exchange was working towards resuming services related to the deposit and purchase of ETH, XEM, LSK, XRP, and FCT, the deposit of yen at convenience stores and through a “quick depositing” method. During this time the exchange was also working toward opening its payment and affiliate services, allowing new leveraged transactions, and allowing customers to pay their electricity bill with virtual currency through Coincheck DENKI.

Since the attack, Coincheck has made major changes to its platform and staff in hopes of avoiding another hack. Some of these changes include the strengthening of its KYC process for new accounts, the creation of a risk management committee, and the inauguration of Toshihiko Katsuya as president of Coincheck.

Neither Coincheck or the Nikkei Asian Review were available for comment by press time.

Translations by Google

Nathan Graham is a full-time staff writer for ETHNews. He lives in Sparks, Nevada, with his wife, Beth, and dog, Kyia. Nathan has a passion for new technology, grant writing, and short stories. He spends his time rafting the American River, playing video games, and writing.

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