Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin to close trades

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin will cease operations in March 2025 following a hack that resulted in over $300 million in losses.

This decision follows months of recovery efforts that ultimately failed to restore the rig’s viability.

DMM Bitcoin to transfer all assets to SBI VC Trade

According to a Nikkei Asia report, the stock exchange is also planning to sell all its assets to SBI VC Trade, a trading company owned by the SBI Group.

SBI VC Trade confirmed in a statement on December 2 that an agreement had been reached to acquire all of DMM Bitcoin’s assets as part of its liquidation process. The transfer, which is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025, will include client accounts and exchange assets. Details on specific transfer methods and dates will be announced in future announcements.

As part of the transition, the company plans to expand its services by offering 14 cryptocurrency spot trading options currently available on the DMM Bitcoin platform. The two companies will continue to discuss the process of transferring assets and accounts.

DMM Bitcoin was hacked on May 31, 2024, resulting in the theft of 4,502.9 BTC, worth approximately $305 million at the time. The exchange confirmed the breach, announcing that it had taken steps to prevent further unauthorized withdrawals by suspending all spot purchase transactions.

He further assured customers that he would refund the lost funds by purchasing an equivalent amount of Bitcoin with the support of his partner companies. To that end, DMM Bitcoin secured a ¥5 billion loan in June and outlined plans to raise an additional ¥50 billion to meet its obligations.

Failed recovery efforts

Despite recovery efforts, ongoing service restrictions and mounting challenges forced the exchange to abandon its plans and ultimately decide to close operations.

In July, the attackers, believed to be the infamous Lazarus Group, were tracked laundering more than $35 million in stolen funds through Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace that has become a hub for illegal activities.

PeckShieldAlert also reported that an additional 500 BTC was transferred to various wallets in August. However, all attempts to recover the stolen funds have been unsuccessful.

The DMM Bitcoin hack ranks as the second largest digital asset breach in Japan, after the $534 million Coincheck attack in 2018.

The Coincheck incident was mainly attributed to the exchange’s poor security practices. Most of the stolen tokens were stored in a single online wallet secured with a single private key rather than offline cold storage or multi-signature secure wallets as recommended by their issuer.

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