In the wake of the biggest cryptocurrency the world has seen so far, the Coincheck exchange in Japan has promised to refund the amount valued at $530 million to 260,000 affected customers.
Since the organisation was breached and the 523 million units of XEM cryptocurrency stolen, the financial regulator in Japan has come down hard on the exchange, demanding improved services.
Despite making the pledge to repay customers, the Japanese exchange has not yet presented a for carrying it out, leaving affected investors in the dark.
At a press conference relating to the heist, the forlorn founders of the company apologised. As reported by the Financial Times, Yusuke Otsuka, chief operating officer of Coincheck, said: “I deeply apologise to the customers we have troubled.”
While there have been other high-profile cryptocurrency thefts including a major incident in which Ethereum was stolen, this instance dwarfs the competition. The scale of the theft stands as a stark indicator of the risks involved in cryptocurrency investment.
In a post regarding the reparations policy, Coincheck said: “We realize that this illicit transfer of funds from our platform and the resulting suspension in services has caused immense distress to our customers, other exchanges, and people throughout the cryptocurrency industry, and we would like to offer our deepest and humblest apologies to all of those involved.”
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The attack has come at an already low point for cryptocurrency confidence, with governments around the world, including the UK government, considering plans to put robust regulation place. Countries including China, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have already acted to limit cryptocurrency freedom.
“In moving towards reopening our services, we are putting all of our efforts towards discovering the cause of the illicit transfer and overhauling and strengthening our security measures while simultaneously continuing in our efforts to register with the Financial Services Agency as a Virtual Currency Exchange Service Provider,” said Coincheck.
