Reports sought from all virtual currency exchanges

January 29, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Financial Services Agency has asked all virtual currency exchanges in the country to submit reports on how they are managing customer assets, informed sources told Jiji Press on Monday.

If problems are found in their methods to manage assets and detect fraudulent accessing, the regulator will call for steps to address the issues, the sources said.

The FSA's request came after Japanese virtual currency exchange operator Coincheck Inc. had about 58 billion yen's worth of customer assets stolen in a hacking incident last week.

Virtual currency exchange operators keep customer assets in computers either connected constantly to the Internet or offline.

While they normally keep most assets in computers unconnected to the Internet, Coincheck kept all of its customers' cryptocurrency NEM that was stolen in connected computers.

The FSA asked exchange operators to report the amounts and percentages of virtual currencies that are kept in computers connected to the Internet and how they are managing these assets. It also sought explanations on methods used to respond to cyberattacks.

In addition, the exchange operators were asked to report on how they detect abnormal remittance requests. Jiji Press