Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin to shut down, transfer assets to SBI Group unit after $300 million hack
Quick Take
- The Japanese crypto exchange announced plans to cease operations after completing the asset transfer to SBI VC Trade.
- DMM Bitcoin suffered a hack in May, resulting in losses exceeding $300 million.
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin will cease operations following a hack in May that resulted in losses exceeding $300 million.
SBI VC Trade, the crypto arm of Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Group, will acquire the exchange's assets, according to its Monday statement.
According to an English translation of a Japanese statement released on Monday, DMM Bitcoin said that it had reached an agreement with SBI to transfer customer accounts and custodial assets to the latter by around March 2025. The exchange also noted that open positions in leveraged trading are excluded from the transfer, and all such positions must be settled before the transfer.
DMM Bitcoin's upcoming shutdown comes after the exchange suffered a security breach in May. The exchange said that 4,502.9 BTC, or about $306 million at the time, had been stolen.
The company noted that it had procured about 55 billion yen ($365.1 million) in June through a combination of funding initiatives. It secured 5 billion yen ($33.2 million) through borrowing on June 3 and 48 billion yen ($318.6 million) via a capital increase on June 7. The final tranche came on June 10, when DMM Bitcoin obtained an additional 2 billion yen ($13.3 million) through subordinated borrowing.
DMM Bitcoin plans to cease operations following the completion of the asset transfer, according to the statement.
SBI VC Trade announced on Monday that it plans to begin handling spot trading for 14 cryptocurrencies currently traded on DMM Bitcoin before finalizing the transfer of custodial assets.
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