Coincheck Says It Lost Crypto Coins Valued at About $400 Million

By Yuji Nakamura and Andrea Tan
January 26, 2018, 3:23 AM EST Updated on January 26, 2018, 1:49 PM EST

? Coincheck says 500 million NEM coins were sent outside venue
? Japan’s Financial Services Agency is investigating situation

One of Japan’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges said that about $400 million in NEM tokens were lost after the coins were sent “illicitly” outside the venue, spooking investors in a country that’s still wary of digital-token exchanges four years after the collapse of Mt. Gox.

After hours of speculation, Coincheck Inc. co-founder Yusuke Otsuka said during a late-night press conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange that the company didn’t know how the 500 million tokens went missing, but the firm is working to ensure the safety of all client assets. Coincheck said earlier it had suspended all withdrawals, halted trading in all tokens except Bitcoin, and stopped deposits into NEM coins.

"We are looking into the facts surrounding Coincheck," Japan’s Financial Services Agency said in a statement. The disappearance likely ranks among the biggest losses or thefts of investor assets since the advent of digital currencies with the launch of Bitcoin in 2009.

NEM, the 10th-largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell 9.4 percent to 85 cents as of 1:47 a.m. New York time, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin dropped about 2 percent and Ripple retreated 8.4 percent, according to prices available on Bloomberg.

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