Coincheck is a Japanese bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It operates exchanges between

bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

and

fiat currencies Fiat money is a type of government-issued currency that is not backed by a precious metal, such as gold or silver, nor by any other tangible asset or commodity. Fiat currency is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender, ...

in Japan, and bitcoin transactions and storage in some countries. In April 2018, Coincheck was acquired by Monex Group for 3.6 billion

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

. (US33.4 million) Coincheck since 2016 has been the trademark name of a numismatic supply company located and trademark registered in the United States since 2016.

History

Coincheck started in August 2014 and is operated by Coincheck, inc. (previously ResuPress, inc) (founded in 2012). There were then more than 2,200 merchants using their bitcoin payment solution, just in Japan. Coincheck is a member of JBA (Japan Blockchain Association) and is actively helping to build the Japanese bitcoin community's usage standards with the government. Coincheck partnered with SEKAI to support Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwan investors to buy Japanese real estate with bitcoin.

2018 hacking incident

In January 2018, Coincheck was hacked and approximately 500 million NEM tokens ($530 million) were stolen. The currency was transferred through a total of nineteen accounts, one of which was found to have no connection with the hacker. The hack led two of Japan's crypto-currency trade groups to merge into a new

self-regulatory organization Self-regulation may refer to: *Emotional self-regulation *Self-control, in sociology/psychology *Self-regulated learning, in educational psychology *Self-regulation theory (SRT), a system of conscious personal management *Industry self-regulation, ...

. The

Financial Services Agency The is a Japanese government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors in order to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan. The agency operates ...

took administrative action by ordering Coincheck to improve its security practices, but did not order the exchange to shut down out of a concern for the protection of its users. Coincheck initially announced that it may not be able to compensate all users affected by the hack, but then announced that it would repay all 260,000 users affected in Japanese yen using its own capital. As of February 2021, the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office has charged 31 individuals for their involvement in transactions of stolen NEM tokens. In total, these individuals converted around 18.8 billion yen of stolen coins into other cryptocurrencies. After the hack, Coincheck suspended trading temporarily and reimbursed its customers for their losses. The company also implemented new security measures, including enhanced KYC (know your customer) procedures, a review of its management system, and the strengthening of its internal control framework.

References

{{Cryptocurrency exchanges Bitcoin exchanges Cryptocurrencies Japanese companies established in 2014 Bitcoin companies Internet technology companies of Japan Companies based in Tokyo Cryptocurrency theft