Bitcoin Blockchain and Cryptocurrency News Center
An 18-year-old hacker was referred to prosecutors in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya for stealing cryptocurrency, local news outlet Japan Today reported on March 14. The cybercriminal allegedly hacked Monappy, a digital wallet which can be installed on a smartphone, and stole 15 million yen ($134,196) of cryptocurrency between Aug. 14 and Sept. 1 of last year. The hack reportedly […]
Japan’s second-largest bank by assets, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has completed a proof-of-concept (PoC) using blockchain consortium R3’s Marco Polo trade finance platform. A press release confirmed the PoC completion on Feb. 18. SMBC, which is the only Japanese bank participating in Marco Polo, said it had partnered with Japanese multinational Mitsui & Co. to enhance efficiency in trade processes, the […]
Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced that a major update of its Rakuten Pay mobile app will be released on March 18, according to the firm’s 2018 earnings release, published on Feb. 12. The app’s new structure appears to indicate that it will support cryptocurrency payments in addition to fiat. According to the company’s presentation material for the fourth quarter […]
Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings and blockchain consortium startup R3 have formed a joint venture to boost the adoption of R3’s Corda platform in Japan and beyond, the CoinDesk reported. Announcing the news on Tuesday, SBI said that the new venture, SBI R3 Japan, will be setting up and licensing the Corda platform for new customers, […]
Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, which suffered a $530 million hack in January of last year, is now a licensed entity, the CoinDesk reported on January 11. Monex Group, the Japan-based online brokerage firm that acquired Coincheck for $33.5 million following the cyberattack, announced Friday that the exchange is now registered with the Kanto Financial Bureau, under the country’s Payment […]
Japan is known as a land of contrasts. A country where serenity and tranquillity can be found in the middle of the hustle and bustle of large global cities, where proud traditionalism stands side-by-side with the developers and innovators of breakthrough technologies, where kimonos are often found next to the latest fashion trends. This contradictory […]
Mark Karpeles — the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox — has affirmed that he is not guilty in the final argument for his trial, Cointelegraph Japan reports Dec. 27. In court in Tokyo on Thursday, Karpeles apologized for not being able to avoid his exchange being hacked, but also reiterated the idea that he is innocent. As Cointelegraph Japan […]
Japanese internet giant GMO Internet Group is quitting the Bitcoin mining hardware sector, Cointelegraph Japan reported Dec. 25 referencing a public document. Citing “extraordinary loss” in Q4 this year, GMO, which began its foray into Bitcoin mining in 2017, said that it will “no longer develop, manufacture and sell” miners. “After taking into consideration changes in the current business environment, the […]
Japan’s financial regulator is set to introduce new Initial Coin Offering (ICO) regulations to protect investors from fraud, local news outlet Jiji Press reported Dec. 1. According to “informed” sources cited by Jiji, business operators conducting ICOs will be required to register with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). The agency is reportedly planning to submit bills revising financial […]
Tech Bureau, the company that formerly operated hacked Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif, has completed its handover to buyer Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange (FCCE), Cointelegraph Japan reported Nov. 22. FCCE, which agreed to take over proceedings in October, will now assume responsibility for compensating users who lost money in the hack, which occurred Sept. 20 and involved funds worth around $60 million at the time. […]