Japanese virtual currency exchange DMM Bitcoin announced in a statement on December 2 that it will close in March next year and transfer its accounts and assets to trading platform SBI VC Trade.
This decision was made after the exchange was hacked in May. The hackers siphoned off over 4,502.9 Bitcoin (BTC), with a value of approximately $305 million at the time.
Since the loss of funds, DMM Bitcoin has been restricting services such as accepting withdrawals and purchase orders for spot crypto assets, but acknowledged that if this situation is left unaddressed, it will harm customers. The ministry said, “We sincerely apologize for the long-term inconvenience.''
It is not clear who is behind the theft, but fingers are being pointed at the Lazarus Group, North Korea's shadowy cyber hackers. Funds from the hack also appear to have gone through Huione Guaranty, a Cambodian payments company that enabled billions of dollars in illegal money laundering.
SBI VC Trade announced that it will begin handling new spot transactions for 14 types of virtual currencies that are already handled by DMM Bitcoin before asset transfer.
