The Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif is set to resume business seven months after a devastating hack. The hack occurred in September of 2018 with is resulting in 6.7 billion Yen ($59.8 million) being stolen. The cryptos stolen included bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and monacoin.
The return to business follows the Tech Bureau to Fisco Digital Asset Group (FDAG) gaining a majority control over the exchange. Zaif plans to compensate their customers for the stolen money with it coming 40% in fiat currency and 60% in digital currency.
FDAG has promised over five billion Yen in order to complete their compensation plan with future plans to reimburse the total amount stolen.
According to investing.com, Zaif is not the only digital currency exchange to have their business hurt as the result of hacking. Some of the largest and oldest digital exchanges have been hacked. In January of 2019, QuadrigaCX was hacked for $190 million despite it being the largest exchange in Canada. Bitcoin exchanges are magnets for hackers due to them having to secure large sums of money while allowing users to have ready access to their money. Overall, it is estimate that 2.7 million dollars in digital currency is stolen from exchanges on a daily basis.
Zaif is currently working with the police and other agencies in order to make sure that their systems are safe from hackers. They have invested in security updates while fixing the problems that allowed them to be vulnerable in the first place. Hackers are increasingly being prosecuted for their actions with increased penalties being a deterrent for many hackers. An 18 year old hacker was referred to the Japanese authorities due to hacking the digital wallet Monappy. The total amount stolen was 15 million yen (over $134,000).
Overall, Zaif ability to move past a hack shows that cryptos are increasingly being accepted as a form of currency with hacking being an acceptable risk that exchanges can move on from.
