Japan's Monex considering to buy cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck (updated)
03/04/2018 07:21
* Monex might pay "several billion yen" for Coincheck -
Nikkei
* Coincheck CEO to be replaced, reports Nikkei
* Hackers had stolen $530 mln of crytocurrency from
Coincheck in
Jan
(Adds details on deal, background on Coincheck heist)
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japanese online broker Monex
Group Inc 8698.T said on Tuesday it is considering buying
Coincheck Inc, the local cryptocurrency exchange hit by a
high-profile $530 million theft earlier this year.
The company did not provide any details but the Nikkei daily
on Tuesday said the deal could be worth "several billion yen"
and an announcement was likely this week.
Coincheck representatives said in an email that the Nikkei
report was not something the company had announced.
The deal would allow Monex to access Coincheck's customer
base, which saw a spurt in users as the cryptocurrency sector
grew rapidly last year. With this, the broker will join other
online securities brokerages such as GMO Internet Inc 9449.T
and Money Partners Group 8732.T .
Monex shares surged 23 percent by the daily limit to 424 yen
in Tokyo.
Coincheck's Chief Executive Koichiro Wada and another
executive will be replaced, the Nikkei reported, adding that
Coincheck and Monex have already charted the plan out to
regulators and major investors.
Coincheck, which in January suffered one of the biggest
digital money heists ever, was asked by the Financial Services
Agency to improve risk management and prevent further criminal
use of digital money. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QQ1JT
The Coincheck heist underscored the risks faced by
policymakers in regulating cryptocurrency trading and had
rattled Japan, which became the first country to regulate the
cryptocurrency industry by requiring all exchanges to register
with the authorities.
($1 = 105.9400 yen)
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Minami Funakoshi, Editing by
Chang-Ran Kim and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((taiga.uranaka@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-6441-1813; Reuters
Messaging: taiga.uranaka.reuters.com@reuters.net))