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Japanese crypto exchange, Liquid hit with an $80 million attack

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A prominent Japanese cryptocurrency platform, Liquid underwent a massive hack that caused the loss of crypto worth $80 million.

The crypto-verse isn’t new to hacks and attacks. Just as the value of the crypto market began to surge, it became a target to criminals who were looking to make easy money. Regulators started to intervene once the number of cybercrimes related to crypto began rising. While crypto platforms across the globe were seen strengthening their security, Liquid’s security was compromised.

The Japanese exchange alerted its users about the latest hack through its Twitter handle and revealed that hold on deposits and withdrawals was imposed.

Japanese exchange falls prey to a hack

In its tweet, the exchange noted that its warm wallets were compromised and the assets were reportedly being moved to the cold wallets. The tweet further read,

Furthermore, the Japanese exchange affirmed that the situation was being investigated and Liquid had found the hacker’s address. The exchange wrote,

“The following assets had been transferred to hacker’s following addresses (Further investigation to come):
BTC: 1Fx1bhbCwp5LU2gHxfRNiSHi1QSHwZLf7q
ETH/EWT: 0x5578840aae68682a9779623fa9e8714802b59946
TRX: TSpcue3bDfZNTP1CutrRrDxRPeEvWhuXbp
XRP: rfapBqj7rUkGju7oHTwBwhEyXgwkEM4yby”

As mentioned above prominent assets like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Tron [TRX], and XRP were stolen from the platform. The platform lost over 100 BTC, about 11 million XRP, and about 10 million TRX. Additionally, a whopping $60 million worth of Ethereum and other ERC20 tokens were taken from the Japanese exchange.

This security breach had undoubtedly urged other exchanges to not only stay alert but also look into their security system. Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, KuCoin decided to show support and stay alert by blacklisting the aforementioned addresses. The CEO of the crypto exchange, Jonny Lyu took to Twitter to affirm the same. The tweet read,

“We are aware of the #LiquidGlobal security incident, and the hacker’s addresses have been added to the blacklist of #KuCoin. Hope everything is OK. 🙏”

Coinbase launches in Japan after partnering with Tokyo-based banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ

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One of the world’s top crypto exchanges, Coinbase has teamed up with banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group [MUFG] that serves over 40 million customers to expand its footprint all the way to Japan. According to the official announcement, the launch of its Japanese arm is a part of its global strategy.

Initially, the Brian Armstrong-led crypto firm will rollout retail products that include the five top assets on the basis of the trading volume. The platform, however, has not revealed which assets will be listed. Eventually, it will introduce more digital assets and products and launch “localized versions” of some of its popular services such as advanced trading, Coinbase for Institutions, etc.

The official blog post also stated,

“Today we are excited to be launching Coinbase in Japan, one of the first countries to embrace crypto and one of the largest markets by crypto trading volumes in the world.”

Coinbase Japan targets both retail and institutional investors

Coinbase had been eyeing the Japanese market for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, the crypto exchange reportedly sought a license approval from the country’s financial regulator the Financial Services Authority [FSA] back in October 2019. A few months later, it firm registered as a crypto exchange after receiving a green signal from the FSA. Additionally, it also registered as a second-class member with Japan’s self-regulatory organization called Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association [JVCEA]

Besides, the all-new Coinbase Japan not only aims to attract retail customers but also plans to cater to institutions if there is a rising demand for institutional-grade services in the country.

Nao Kitazawa, who happens to be the head of Coinbase Japan and a former Morgan Stanley banker had stated along the same line and emphasised the increasing number of institutional investors who have expressed interest in the latest initiative. The exec also revealed that if need be, Coinbase Japan would hire staff for institutional investors.

Ripple ventures into Japan with its ODL service

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Ripple made immense news this year, particularly due to its tiff with the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]. This did not hold back the platform from doing business. Ripple was seen expanding and Japan seemed to be its latest venture.

The SEC blatantly accused Ripple of selling unregistered securities. While none of the parties involved in the case decided to settle, the case persisted. The platform seemed to have figured out that the US could be a tough nut to crack, therefore it started laying focus on its On Demand Liquidity [ODL] services.

An array of platforms have begun to realize that the Asian market is a promising one. Hence several firms have been exploring Asian waters and Ripple has joined the list. The platform’s recent announcement revealed that it had rolled out a brand new ODL payment corridor between Japan and the Philippines.

Ripple to swim in Japanese waters

Japan’s SBI Remit, the remittance division of the SBI group would reportedly carry this out with the Philippines’s prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coins.ph. Both the parties would reportedly employ XRP as the bridge currency. Users would then be able to convert the received XRP into the Filipino peso.

The announcement further read,

“With this scheme, SBI Remit will expand the lineup of remittances to the Philippines by adding recipients via Coins.ph as an expansion of the recipients of conventional remittances to the Philippines. In addition, in this scheme, cryptocurrency XRP is used as the bridge currency, and by utilizing the abundant liquidity of XRP possessed by SBI VC Trade, remittance costs such as pre-funding are reduced at SBI Remit, and international remittance business We believe that this will lead to the strengthening of competitiveness in Japan.”

In addition to this, SBI hopes to further expand its association with Ripple while focusing on remittance destination countries particularly Southeast Asia.

Ripple’s ODL services made advancements this year and emerged as a prominent service following the digitalization wave.

Yahoo! Japan enters the world of NFTs with its partnership with Line

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Yahoo! Japan is the latest platform to embrace non-fungible tokens [NFT]. The platform’s collaboration with messaging firm Line will reportedly lead to a trading initiative that focuses on NFT trading.

2021 proved to be an excellent year for the crypto-verse. With the price and popularity of cryptocurrencies increasing without any barricade, all eyes were on the market. Soon NFTs made a debut, and the focus traversed to this. NFTs garnered all the attention and found a stronghold below the crypto spotlight. People across several industries began trying out their hands in the NFT space. Yahoo! Japan was the latest firm to do so.

In a recent announcement, the platform revealed that it joined hands with Line to explore the NFT space.

Yahoo! Japan is the latest platform to dive into the NFT space

In the announcement, the platform noted that it would roll out secondary trading for NFTs that would be issued on Line’s blockchain. These NFTs would then be auctioned on Yahoo! Auctions. This NFT trading service is expected to go live by the end of 2021.

The announcement further read,

“We will work with other partners to revitalize the distribution of valuable content and contribute to the expansion of the secondary distribution market in the NFT industry.”

Both the parties involved would use Yahoo! Auctions along with Line’s Bitmax wallet. Users would then be able to trade their NFTs through Line’s Bitmax wallet on Yahoo! Auctions.

Yahoo! Auctions was rolled out as a competition to eBay. eBay had recently expressed its interest in the NFT space. The CEO of eBay, Jamie Iannone, spoke to CNBC about the same and said,

“One of the great things about eBay is when there’s a new trend, it just shows up on eBay. That’s what we’re seeing in areas like NFT, which we’re looking at how can we explore that better.”

Binance faces severe clampdown by regulators of UK, Japan, Ontario this week

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The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is facing a massive crackdown amidst market-wide beating. In the latest development, the UK Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] has released a statement wherein it revealed that Binance Markets Limited is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the country.

FCA further went on to comment that no other entity coming from Binance Group currently holds any particular class of authorization, license to carry out authority, or a registration in the country.

The official press release, stated,

“This firm is part of a wider Group [Binance Group]. Due to the imposition of requirements by the FCA, Binance Markets Limited is not currently permitted to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA. No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorization, registration or license to conduct regulated activity in the UK.”

FCA has reportedly identified myriad companies that are advertising and even selling investments when it comes to crypto-assets but do not have authorization from the regulatory watchdog. It warned the users against engaging or investing in a type of crypto-asset via those platforms, and said that they will not be able to access the Financial Ombudsman Service, or even the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong.

Trouble Brewing for Binance

This is not the first time that the cryptocurrency exchange has been under intense scrutiny from regulatory entities. In fact, the latest news comes on the tails of fresh statements issued by financial regulators in Japan and Canada that echoed a similar sentiment. Reiterating its 2018 stance, Japan’s Financial Services Agency [FSA] issued a warning this week in which it stated that the CZ-led exchange is not registered to do business in the country.

Soon after this, Binance announced terminate operations to Ontario-based users, claiming it to be a “restricted jurisdiction.” In an official statement, the exchange advised the users of the region to take immediate measures to close out all active positions by the 31st of December, 2021.

Bitcoin Offers Long-term Stability, Liquidity Says Nexon’s CEO After Buying 1,717 BTC

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Japanese games publisher Nexon announced allocating $100 million for the purchase of 1,717 Bitcoins. According to the official press release, the company bought the digital currency at an average price of roughly $58,226 per BTC, inclusive of fees and expenses.

Additionally, purchase amounts to approximately 2% of Nexon’s total cash and cash equivalents on hand as of December 2020.

Owen Mahoney, President, and CEO of the online game provider had explained that the company’s purchase of the crypto-asset mirrors a “disciplined” strategy for protecting shareholder value. The exec also stressed the move was taken to maintain the purchasing power of the firm’s cash assets. Mahoney views Bitcoin as a form of cash that is likely to retain its value at times like inflation, even if it is not yet widely recognized. He also went on to add that,

“In the current economic environment, we believe Bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments”

Why Is Nexon Buying Bitcoin A Crucial Development?

With this development, Nexon joins the likes of Tesla and other technology firms such as Square Inc. to have embraced the digital currency this season. It happens to be the first large public company in Japan as well as South Korea to buy cryptocurrency as part of its treasury.

However, this is not the first time a major Japanese company has dipped its toes into the realm. Tokyo-based financial service firm, SBI had revealed that its plans to roll out bank-backed digital currency exchange. Back in 2017, the country’s GMO Internet Group had also unveiled a $3 million investment into Bitcoin mining.

According to Steve Jang, the Founder and Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures Nexon’s strategy has generated from the need for a currency hedge, rather than investment speculation. Jang also noted that this is an important driver of adoption by companies and financial institutions, which could potentially bring stronger hands to develop the store-of-value use case across the world.

The exec also added,

“Nexon is a gaming platform exploring the multiverse possibilities and what virtual goods mean in a crypto world. organizational learning takes time and needs to permeate from many angles. the board’s move to invest in BTC can only help stoke that product exploration in gaming”

According to Bitcoin Treasuries‘ latest stats, currently, there are 35 publicly traded companies that are holding the cryptocurrency on their balance sheets.

Japan’s Central Bank Rolls Out Phase 1 Of CBDC Pilot As Scheduled

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Japan spruced up its central bank digital currency [CBDC] plans after China decided to reveal its progress in the same. Several countries across the globe seem to have been alarmed by China’s plunge into financial digitalization.

While Japan has been working towards the pilot of their native CBDC since October 2020, the country’s central bank, Bank of Japan announced that Phase 1 of the digital yen would be launched in April. The bank seemed to be on its toes as it revealed that this pilot was rolled out as scheduled.

Japan’s Timely Developments

Central bank-issued digital currencies created an uproar among countries across the globe and Japan stated that it would get on this bandwagon. In a recent announcement titled, ” Commencement of Central Bank Digital Currency Experiments” the country’s central bank affirmed that it would soon begin “experiments” with regard to its CBDC.

The announcemnet further read,

“The Bank of Japan has been undertaking preparations to begin experiments on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in early fiscal year 2021, to test the technical feasibility of the core functions and features required for CBDC. As necessary preparations are now complete, Proof of Concept (PoC) Phase 1 begins today.”

Furthermore, the bank pointed out that a test environment would soon be formulated as part of Phase 1 in order to facilitate experiments pertaining to CBDC as a medium of payment, including “issuance, distribution, and redemption.” This will reportedly be done throughout March 2022 for about a year.

The Asian country seemed to be adamant about the launch of a CBDC as it even set up a Liaison and Coordination Committee on Central Bank Digital Currency. This committee recently had its first meeting where the Executive Director of the Bank of Japan, UCHIDA Shinichi suggested that “if the Bank judges it necessary to go a step further, it will also consider a pilot program that involves payment service providers (PSPs; e.g., banks and non-bank PSPs) and end users.”

Japan’s Central Bank Takes A Plunge Into The CBDC Game

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After China, Japan seems to be moving in full force. The central bank digital currency market has been firing up as digitalization has been gaining momentum. While several countries have just started out exploring the prospects of the CBDC, a few others like China have already begun testing the digital yuan.

Now, Japan seems to be catching on to the CBDC train. In a recent announcement, the country’s central bank, Bank of Japan revealed that it was moving ahead with respect to the pilot of its CBDC.

Japan Steers Towards The Development Of CBDC

The Bank of Japan had reportedly rolled out the Liaison and Coordination Committee to spearhead the development of the CBDC. While the first meeting of the Liaison and Coordination Committee on Central Bank Digital Currency was recently concluded, the Executive Director of the Bank of Japan, UCHIDA Shinichi addressed the same. The speech read,

“We will begin to test the technical feasibility of the core functions and features required for CBDC through a Proof of Concept (PoC) from April 2021. If the Bank judges it necessary to go a step further, it will also consider a pilot program that involves payment service providers (PSPs; e.g., banks and non-bank PSPs) and end users.”

Additionally, the Japanese central bank revealed that Phase 1 of the CBDC pilot would make a debut by next month. The bank has reportedly been working on the pilot since October, last year.

Furthermore, speaking about the repercussions of launching a CBDC, the Exec suggested that the Japanese central bank would roll out one keeping in mind its compatibility with the future payment and settlement systems. Its coexistence with cash was also mentioned in the speech. The speech further read,

“These role-sharing arrangements will still be necessary even in a world with CBDC. I believe that it is the private sector, such as yourselves, that should be the chefs who serve up the dishes, or convenient payment services, by using CBDC — provided as a public good — as an ingredient.”

Japan geared up to launch native CBDC as it takes cues from steps taken by China

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The concept of cryptocurrencies started as a nascent idea but has now spread into a global phenomenon. It is not just the mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereuym that are doing the rounds but rather centralized cryptocurrencies launched by state governments.

China was the first country to take centrally backed cryptocurrencies seriously, especially with the creation of the digital renminbi. Looking at the steps taken by the red dragon, other countries such as Japan were coming to the forefront to voice their contributions using Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDCs].  

CDBCs are generally used for cashless payments through a smart device such as a mobile phone or tablet. The main intention of a digital currency is to eliminate the overheads and wastage related to physical fiat currency. Former Bank of Japan officials stated that China’s efforts in the ecosystem inspired other regions to follow suit.

The People’s Bank of China has been the pioneer in terms of building a digital trading ecosystem with officials also responsible for releasing coherent updates. Hiromi Yamaoka, an ex-official at the Bank of Japan commented:

“China has prompted moves toward digital currency (around the world). t (has done so at) surprising speed, as central banks tend to take a cautious stance. The design of a CBDC is very tricky and delicate. In advanced countries, a CBDC could conflict with existing payment and banking systems.”

Banking officials in Japan were confident that introducing native digital currencies in a major way would only uplift the financial situation of the country. The proposed method is to give the Japanese population a trading limit access of 50,000 yen per person. This would result in a total trading volume of 5 trillion yen, a figure that would account for just 5 percent of the total Japanese capital circulation.

Digital Currency Forum, a popular advocate of digital currencies in Japan revealed that there were plans to create “some form” of digital currency by 2023. Banking officials were of the opinion that if Japan does not launch a CBDC soon, it may lag behind other major countries in the race towards a streamlined digital economy.

US-Based Kraken Dives Into Japanese Market (Again)

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The expansion of services has become one of the major goals of every crypto platform. Offering their services to countries across the globe is added to the to-do list of several exchanges. However, expanding and exploring via crypto is a rather challenging task. Over the years Asia has been a major attraction of investors. As per a recent announcement, Kraken is the latest exchange to express its keenness towards entering the Asian market.

Kraken Once Again Enters Japanese Market

Last month, Kraken, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange firm, revealed that it was resuming its services in Japan. Back in 2018, after four years of its launch in Japan, the crypto exchange halted rendering its services to Japanese residents. The exchange reportedly wanted to venture into markets that had a better rate of growth at the time. However, last month, Kraken wrote a blog post revealing the re-entry of the Japanese market.

In its most recent blog post, the exchange pointed out that it had rolled out account funding as well as trading in Japan. This initiative comes as part of the exchange’s high-growth expansion into the Asian Pacific [APAC] region. Commenting on the exchange’s latest venture, David Ripley, the Chief Operating Officer of Kraken revealed that he was “thrilled” to have commenced trading in Japan. He added,

“In today’s challenging economic environment, more people are turning to cryptocurrencies to hedge against volatile markets and use cryptocurrency as a store of value.”

The exchange has reportedly launched an array of services from spot trading to crypto deposits as well as domestic JPY deposits and withdrawals. Spot trading was available in five crypto assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRPM Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Crypto deposits were also available in the same range of assets.

Last month, the exchange set up a portal for Japanese residents to create accounts and had revealed that the services would commence from early October. In its previous blog post, Kraken revealed that it was looking into entering the Japanese market once again as “Japan is ripe for re-entry.”

Takeshi Chino, the CEO of Payward Asia, a Japanese entity of Kraken also commented on the latest development and said,

“Crypto has demonstrated that it has staying power and that it continues to evolve. Investors in the space are not only drawn to price movement, but also to new investment opportunities, including the innovation currently coming out of the DeFi space.”