Monex eyes acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange coincheck

April 3, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese online brokerage Monex Group Inc. is working to buy Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange operator Coincheck Inc. for several billion yen, informed sources said Tuesday.

Monex aims to enter the virtual currency business by acquiring Coincheck, which was hit by a massive hack in January that stole cryptocurrency NEM worth 58 billion yen at the time. Coincheck still holds a customer base that is one of the largest among cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan.

In a statement the same day, Monex said that it is considering acquiring Coincheck, but that nothing has been decided about the matter.

Monex plans to assist Coincheck's management rehabilitation by sending an official to its board, according to the sources.

Coincheck founder and President Koichiro Wada is expected to step down following Monex's envisaged acquisition.

Over the hack, the Financial Services Agency has twice issued a business improvement order to Coincheck, demanding that it drastically revamp its management. Jiji Press