Companies

Crypto Exchange Operator DMM Bitcoin to Close Biz

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Illustration/File Photo
Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are seen in this illustration picture taken in Paris, France, March 9, 2024.

Jiji Press

17:47 JST, December 2, 2024

Tokyo, Dec. 2 (Jiji Press) — Japanese cryptocurrency exchange operator DMM Bitcoin Co. said Monday that it will go out of business.

The company, part of the DMM.com LLC group, is believed to have found it difficult to continue operations after about ¥48.2 billion ‘s worth of customers’ bitcoin deposits were stolen in May.

The company plans to hand over its customers’ deposits to SBI VC Trade Co., a cryptocurrency exchange unit of SBI Holdings Inc., around next March.

DMM Bitcoin detected the bitcoin deposit breach on May 31. It has since restricted some services, such as the withdrawal of crypto assets. In June, it secured the amount of bitcoin equivalent to what was lost, with financial support from the DMM group.

The company apologized for the prolonged inconvenience in a statement released on its website on Monday.

Over the incident, the Financial Services Agency in September issued a business improvement order to DMM Bitcoin under the payment service law, urging it to find out the cause and strengthen its systems.

The agency cited the company’s sloppy management, such as the concentration of authorities for system operation and security and the lack of decentralized management of private keys for asset management.