Crypto Exchange Zaif Stops New Registrations Due To Hacking

The Japanese company behind the Zaif bitcoin exchange, Tech Bureau Inc. has decided to stop new registrations from taking place at the exchange. This decision was made 14 days after the reported hacking incident on the exchange.

The breach resulted in $60 million in damages for Zaif and a whole lot of embarrassment for the company. Zaif said it plans to resume registrations when there is a complete plan to compensate those who lost their money in the hack.

The hack has caused financial trouble for Tech Bureau. The parent company has recently reached out to another Japanese investment company, Fisco to ask for a $44 billion bailout agreement. Tech Bureau is hoping to properly compensate its customers but that is still up in the air as the deal is still being reviewed.

In a statement, Tech Bureau said

After concluding the basic agreement, we are advancing consultation and negotiations for concluding a formal contract, there is no change in the policy to ensure thorough compensation for customer assets, and we are continuing to consider the details of specific response. As soon as the content is confirmed, we will report it promptly

To ensure that there won't be any future problems when it comes to compensation, the company stopped any more additional registrations. Existing customers don't have to worry about losing access to their accounts though.

Plagued With Security Breaches

The security breach that caused so much trouble for Zaif and Tech Bureau is just one of many that have been recently plaguing Japanese cryptocurrency companies. Crypto-related thefts have been on the rise since 2017. According to the National Police Agency of Japan, the first six months of 2018 have already seen $500 million in crypto thefts.

The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) has already taken steps to try and increase the security measures that defend these cryptocurrency businesses. The agency required all cryptocurrency operators in Japan to sign up with them as it was a move to try and curb money-laundering and also a way to encourage operators to increase their security measures.

Earlier this year, the FSA was forced to issue warnings to two operators to improve their business operations in terms of security. The agency also reached out to the many crypto operators in an attempt to help them improve their security. This response was primarily driven in response to the massive $509 million Coincheck hack.

Now, the agency is moving to investigate the specifics of the Zaif hack and the security measures in place. According to sources, the funds have already been sent to offshore accounts, making their recovery difficult.

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