Crypto Exchange Zaif to Resume Services under Fisco Ownership

by Celeste Skinner
  • Fisco has bought the firm for $44.675 million.
Crypto Exchange Zaif to Resume Services under Fisco Ownership
Bloomberg
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Zaif, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan, is now under new management, as the firm has signed over its business to Fisco, a publicly listed Japanese investment firm, this Monday.

According to a statement from the crypto exchange released on Friday, the ownership of the company changed from its previous owner Tech Bureau to Fisco today at 13:00. The deal was worth around ¥5 billion ($44.675 million), the statement said.

The change of management follows the exchange losing around $60 million in September of last year when it was hacked. One month later the takeover was announced in October 2018.

Zaif to Resume Services Suspended After Hack

After the hack, Zaif stopped allowing the registration of new members and trading, depositing and withdrawing MONA was put on hold from October. From tomorrow, all these services will resume.

Since the hack, the exchange did refund its users that had their holdings stolen. As Zaif outlined, users who had Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash stolen were refunded in the same cryptocurrency. However, users who had MONA stolen received around 60 percent of the crypto and the rest was compensated in Japanese yen, due to Liquidity issues.

Soon after the money was stolen, the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) released a statement saying it is investigating security procedures at the exchange. Not only that but cybersecurity experts at Japan Digital Design, who worked in collaboration with other security firms, found that they had found information which could possibly reveal the Zaif hackers.

Specifically, Digital Design, which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), said that it was able to identify the “source” of the attackers after it investigated the outflow of MonaCoin.

The details have not been disclosed, but the team said that it had shared the information with the relevant authorities.

Zaif, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan, is now under new management, as the firm has signed over its business to Fisco, a publicly listed Japanese investment firm, this Monday.

According to a statement from the crypto exchange released on Friday, the ownership of the company changed from its previous owner Tech Bureau to Fisco today at 13:00. The deal was worth around ¥5 billion ($44.675 million), the statement said.

The change of management follows the exchange losing around $60 million in September of last year when it was hacked. One month later the takeover was announced in October 2018.

Zaif to Resume Services Suspended After Hack

After the hack, Zaif stopped allowing the registration of new members and trading, depositing and withdrawing MONA was put on hold from October. From tomorrow, all these services will resume.

Since the hack, the exchange did refund its users that had their holdings stolen. As Zaif outlined, users who had Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash stolen were refunded in the same cryptocurrency. However, users who had MONA stolen received around 60 percent of the crypto and the rest was compensated in Japanese yen, due to Liquidity issues.

Soon after the money was stolen, the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) released a statement saying it is investigating security procedures at the exchange. Not only that but cybersecurity experts at Japan Digital Design, who worked in collaboration with other security firms, found that they had found information which could possibly reveal the Zaif hackers.

Specifically, Digital Design, which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), said that it was able to identify the “source” of the attackers after it investigated the outflow of MonaCoin.

The details have not been disclosed, but the team said that it had shared the information with the relevant authorities.

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