Coincheck Exchange Confirms Yen Withdrawals to Start Next Week

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has announced that it plans to allow users to start withdrawing local currency from their accounts next Tuesday.

In a notice posted today, the company – which suffered a notable hack in late January – said (via unofficial translation):

"Currently, assets of customers' Japanese yen are managed safely in customer's account of financial institution. From this, we resume the work related to withdrawal and we will resume the withdrawal in order from the following resume date: February 13, 2018."

The news should come as some relief to customers who have had funds stuck on the exchange since it confirmed it suffered what was likely the biggest hack in the history of cryptocurrency.

On Jan. 26, after an abrupt service shutdown, Coincheck called a press conference at which it conceded that 500 million NEM tokens (worth around $533 million at the time) had been taken from its digital wallets by an intruder.

Since the attack, the company has said it will refund users who lost NEM in the hack – a promise that has seen an on-site investigation by Japan's financial watchdog, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), to ascertain Coincheck's ability to honor the proposal.

The FSA also ordered a review into the security weaknesses that led to the hack, as well as demanding a report for proposed improvements in management to the authority by Feb. 13.

The watchdog said at the time that, "Inappropriate management of system risks had become the norm at Coincheck."

Japanese yen image via Shutterstock