The cryptocurrency industry in Japan was deeply scarred by the Coincheck security breach. Other than the enormity of the funds that were stolen, this hack also worked as a benchmark for new developments to take place in the country. Recently, a groundbreaking rule was made by a Tokyo court regarding this matter. Kyodo, a local news source, revealed that a Tokyo District Court had ruled that stolen funds of about $46,000 be seized from a doctor who is now being accused of fencing them. According to the report, a protective order had been issued by the court for future seizures from Takayoshi Doi, who is a doctor working out of Obihiro City, Hokkaido.
Doi was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in March, along with a company executive located in Osaka, for buying tokens that were related to the hack. Both men were accused by the police of knowing about the origins of Coincheck’s hack and buying their tokens from a platform on the Dark Web. They are now being accessed of funneling some of the funds on behalf of the hackers. No decision has been made regarding their case. The hack at Coincheck was one of the watershed moments of the cryptocurrency industry.
It was when crypto prices had begun their free-fall into what became known as the crypto winter in 2018, the exchange suddenly went dark on January 26th at 3 AM local time. When the dust eventually settled, it was discovered that millions had vanished in funds. It was confirmed by Coincheck’s officials in a press conference that $534 million had been stolen by the hackers in NEM tokens. According to reports, the hackers had managed to steal the private key to the exchange’s NEM wallet, making it easy for them to siphon it off. All of the money that was stolen belonged to customers of Coincheck.
The exchange attempted to stop the bleeding by halting withdrawals via its platform, but it was already too late. Since then, a number of investigations have been conducted into the hack and into the identity of the hackers. As per Kyodo, the court had managed to seize about $46,000 in funds, which was held in the form of Bitcoin and NEM tokens. Obviously, this is only a fraction of the tokens that had been stolen by the hackers in 2018 from Coincheck. The ruling of the District Court marks the first crypto seizure in Japan.
However, the funds will stay in Doi’s custody until an official verdict is issued. As far as the exchange is concerned, Coincheck was able to weather the storm and was back to business within a few weeks after the hack. Nonetheless, it hasn’t been a rosy ride for it either. Not only is it constantly linked to one of the most massive hacks in the industry, it has also dealt with numerous data breaches. The company was attacked in June and its customers’ email address, along with other personal information, were at risk.
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