Hackers Stole $ 60 Million From The Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif

The operator of the Japanese currency exchange Zaif, said on Thursday morning that hackers stole 6.7 billion yen ($ 60 million) of digital currencies.

Part of the stolen amount, about 4.5 billion yen, belonged to the clients of the exchange.

The exchange was hacked on September 14 between 5-7 o’clock in the evening. Three types of digital coins-Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monacoin-were stolen from “wallets”, which are connected to the networks around the clock.

The company discovered the theft on September 17, after which the exchange immediately stopped all operations. The Technical Bureau confirmed the novelty about the hacking on September 18, informing the Agency of Financial Services and investigative agencies about it.

In order to compensate for the losses of customers, the Technical Bureau will sell most of its shares to a group of companies under the management of financial services provider Fisco.

The technical office also signed a contract with the system consultant Caica to strengthen security.

In January, Japan’s cryptocurrency markets were shocked when Coincheck lost 58 billion yen as a result of hacking.

From January to June this year, the National Police Agency of Japan learned of 158 theft of the cryptocurrency in the total amount of 60.5 billion yen. This compares with 149 thefts totaling 660 million yen for the whole of last year.

Major hacking gets the most attention, but most thefts occur from accounts owned by persons with a low level of awareness of proper security.