Zaif Discloses Plans to Return Money to Affected Users
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Tech Bureau, an operator of the Japanese crypto exchange Zaif, published a strategy to compensate for the funds of users affected by a hacker attack last month.

Recall that the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif has undergone a hacker attack, as a result of which the attackers managed to steal about $59 million (¥6.7 billion). The attack on the platform occurred on September 14 and lasted for two hours, but the security service noticed an unusual activity only on September 17 and immediately suspended operations. As a result of cyber attacks, hackers seized bitcoin (Bitcoin), bitcoin cash (Bitcoin.Cash) and monacoin, most of the stolen funds fell on bitcoin.

Earlier, the Tech Bureau has already stopped registering new users to focus on reimbursing customers. At first, the platform announced that it would disclose its plans to pay damages to the victims before the end of September, but then the exchange operator said that it would take more time to work out the compensation plan. Tech Bureau also announced a basic agreement with the Japanese public corporation Fisco Digital Asset Group, which will receive the majority of shares of the operator in exchange for $44.59 million (5 billion yen). These funds will be directly used to compensate customers.

Today, the details of this plan are finally known. According to the currently established legal procedures, the Tech Bureau declares that it will hold a general meeting for shareholders on November 19 with the date the business is transferred to Fisco on November 22. It is reported that Fisco will assume the rights of customers to receive a return of all cryptocurrency funds deposited, stating that compensation for some monacoin will be made in Japanese yen.

The notice states that compensation will be made in Japanese yen in the amount of 144,548 yen ($1.28) for monacoin. It is reported that the compromise of holdings will be compensated for 60% in crypto (at the specified rate) and 40% in fiat. Also, all transactions in monacoin on the platform of Zaif must completely stop today, October 10. “For bitcoin and bitcoin cash, cryptocurrency services including transactions, buying and selling through simple transactions and savings shall continue as normal from this day onward,” states in the document.

Japanese Crypto Exchanges Bow to Orders

Hacking Zaif is the second largest embezzlement of cryptocurrencies in Japan this year, after the hacking of Coincheck, when NEM tokens worth $530 million were stolen. Even then, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan tightened control over crypto exchanges. However, the financial regulator has always stressed that it does not plan to impose any strict requirements on the industry. The Japanese authorities just want the crypto industry to develop with proper regulations.

Hacking Zaif was another reason for tightening control over the market by the financial regulator of Japan. The first measure taken was administrative sanctions against the exchange and its operator Tech Bureau. FSA has expanded the list of requirements for the operator, pointing out the need to identify preventive measures and search for the theft organizers.

“We have not received enough explanation on what exactly happened. What they told us is an employee’s PC was hacked,” explained the dissatisfaction of the agency FSA official.

It should be clarified that the researchers of the Tech Bureau Corp could not provide details of the theft at the request of the FSA. The operator had to investigate the causes, consequences of the theft and compensation options for victims. According to the regulator, the financial company could not cope with the task.

Chart of the day: How to choose the safest crypto exchange?

By the way, ICORating conducted a large-scale study of the security of customer accounts on a hundred crypto exchanges. The study was conducted before the detection of a hack on Zaif, but even then the platform took only the 89th place in the security rating.

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