Thirty people in Japan are facing charges of trading stolen crypto from the 2018 Coincheck exchange hack. They are undergoing questioning as to why they sold stolen digital assets despite knowing they are stolen goods. The investments are said to have a value of approximately $100 million.
According to the local news Mainichi report, law enforcers claim the alleged thieves were trading NEM (XEM) for other cryptos on an exchange operating in the dark web. The report also states the culprits were well aware of the source of the crypto but proceeded with the exchange.
The Coincheck hack that took place three years ago saw an eye-widening $560 million worth of XEM vanish on thin air. The individuals allegedly traded a portion of the aforementioned stolen cryptocurrency from the heist.
Ongoing Investigations Spike Up
All the 30 suspects involved in the illegal trade have been arrested and are awaiting prosecution. The report from Mainichi shed light on the ongoing investigations led by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
Some of the accused traded NEM through the dark web exchange for other digital assets to cash them in local exchanges to build massive profits. In early 2020, two suspects who had an enormous volume compared to others were arrested and charged. Others who got spotted in the same manner were arraigned later on in the year.
Coincheck confirmed one of the biggest hacks ever seen in the financial world, after losing about ¥53 billion to hackers. The exchange had to reimburse the stolen assets whilst assessing the economic damage that had occurred to it. Amid the turmoil, Coincheck revealed they have never registered with Japan’s FSA.
Nevertheless, the hackers’ identity is still a ‘yet to be found’ matter till date. The Tokyo police department is working towards probing the accused as time on their hands is at a premium.
The Aftermath of the Coincheck Hack
The hack on Coincheck, to many people’s disbelief, did not severely affect the cryptocurrency market at large. The exchange admitted that the stolen NEM coins were not stored securely as other cryptocurrencies.
Luckily, the company was able to repay the stolen funds and did not file for bankruptcy. It resumed trading partially later on in the year. The stolen cryptocurrency, however, suffered a drop in price trading under a dollar. The coin is currently still trading below a dollar with a market cap of about $1.97 billion.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency worldwide, suffered a little setback after the announcement of the hack. Its value at the time dropped from $11k to $10.5k, but in a flash, it jumped back to the former value. Other cryptos like ETH, Litecoin and Stellar also suffered the same fate but bounced back almost immediately.
