Japanese Exchange Bitpoint Hacked by $32 Million Worth in Cryptocurrencies

Bitpoint, a licensed cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan, has been hacked with $32 million worth in crypto assets stolen from the platform.

According to a CoinDesk Japan report on Friday, Bitpoint halted all services including trading, deposit and withdrawal of all crypto assets on Friday morning after it noticed irregular withdrawal from its hot wallet on Thursday.

It is not yet clear at this stage which types of assets were lost, the exchange offered trading for five cryptocurrencies: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin and XRP.

The exchange’s parent company Remixpoint Inc. said in an announcement that $23 million of the illegal outflow belonged to its customers.

The hack is the latest incident that has happened to exchanges in Japan. In September 2018, Zaif, also a licensed exchange under the Japanese Financial Services Agency, was hacked and lost $60 million worth in cryptocurrencies.

Earlier last year, Coincheck was also breached, which resulted in more than $520 million worth of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers.

Japanese yen image via Shutterstock