Share this article
Crypto Exchange Zaif Hacked In $60 Million Bitcoin Theft
Yet another Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked, losing about $60 million worth of cryptocurrency, including 6,000 bitcoins.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:24 a.m. Published Sep 20, 2018, 1:25 a.m.
Yet another Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked, losing a 6.7 billion yen (about $60 million worth of cryptocurrency), including 5,966 bitcoins.
The licensed exchange, called Zaif, is operated by the Tech Bureau. It said on Thursday that the exchange first noticed an unusual outflow of funds on the platform around 17:00 Japan time on September 14, after which the company suspended asset deposit and withdrawal services.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Tech Bureau explained that after further investigation, it discovered that hackers with unauthorized access to the exchange's hot wallets had stolen roughly $60 million in bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and MonaCoin. That being said, the exact amount of bitcoin cash stolen remains unknown.
The exchange added that since its own asset reserve is currently around 2.2 billion yen (or $20 million), it has reached an agreement with a Japan-listed firm called Fisco to receive a $44.5 million investment in exchange for a major share of ownership.
Tech Bureau said given the nature of the unauthorized fund access, it has filed the incident as a criminal case to local authorities for further investigation.
The incident marks the second hack in Japan this year, after Coincheck also reported that a whopping $520 million in NEM tokens were stolen by hackers in January.
Following Coincheck's hack, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) – Japan's financial watchdog – has launched a series of inspections on cryptocurrency exchanges in the country regarding their security measures.
The FSA had already notably issued a business improvement order to Tech Bureau in March specifically on its security and anti-money laundering enhancement.
Japanese yen image via CoinDesk
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
