Crypto
48 billion yen in bitcoin cryptocurrency disappears from Japan exchange
DMM Bitcoin Co., the operator of a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, said Friday that digital assets worth at least 48.2 billion yen ($300 million) have disappeared for an unknown reason.
The Tokyo-based company under major IT firm DMM.com LLC said it detected the abnormality at around 1:26 p.m. the same day and suspended operations such as withdrawals of virtual currencies and the reviewing of applications for new accounts.
The amount of lost cryptocurrency is believed to be the second-largest ever in Japan, exceeded only by the 58 billion yen stolen from the Coincheck exchange in Tokyo in a similar incident in 2018.
Tokyo police will probe Friday’s case as they received an inquiry from DMM Bitcoin, according to an investigative source.
The company said it deals in around 40 kinds of cryptocurrencies. Its report for the business year to March 2023 said the number of accounts stood at some 377,000.
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How Indiana’s redistricting could impact the legislative session
Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer breaks down tensions between Indiana and the Trump administration regarding the state’s redistricting efforts.
Indiana lawmakers are hoping to make the state a cryptocurrency leader by allowing the state to invest in digital currencies like Bitcoin for state savings and retirement plans while prohibiting local communities from restricting crypto companies.
The legislation, House Bill 1042, comes as excitement grows over the once obscure digital assets that have made millionaires and wiped-out fortunes. Its supporters now include some of the country’s most powerful people, including President Donald Trump and initially hesitant financial institutions, while the first major piece of crypto legislation passed Congress earlier this year.
Now, Indiana is looking for a slice of the windfall. The topic was one of just a few to get an earlier-than-usual hearing as lawmakers consider redistricting, signaling it’s a major topic of interest among Republicans.
“Crypto policy will become a mainstay of this committee’s work for probably years to come,” said bill author Kyle Pierce, R-Anderson, at a House Financial Institutions Committee meeting Dec. 4.
A volatile investment?
Though the bill would allow public investment funds to delve into the world of digital currency, it stops short of allowing direct crypto investments.
Instead, the bill applies to cryptocurrency exchange traded funds, or EFTs — a safer, federally regulated fund that tracks crypto prices, either by holding the digital assets or a contract that speculates on prices in the future.
The state investment programs required to provide such options include the 529 education savings plan and certain retirement funds for teachers, public employees and lawmakers. It also allows other state investment funds to place their assets in crypto EFTs.
While less volatile than a direct investment, it’s not entirely without risk. Because there is less oversight in the underlying crypto market, the Securities and Exchange Commission has warned it’s difficult to prevent fraud and ensure fairness, even for EFT investors.
That was a tentative concern for Tony Green, deputy executive director of the Indiana Public Retirement System, at the House Financial Institutions Committee hearing Dec. 4.
Though neutral on the bill, Green said IPRS would want to ensure there were proper disclaimers about volatility. And while the agency wants to offer choices to their members, he said, those surveyed were generally uninterested.
No anti-crypto regulations
Another aspect of the bill limits how local governments and state agencies can regulate crypto, though Pierce said it’s only intended to ensure laws don’t unfairly target crypto.
Specifically, it would prohibit regulation of an individual or a business’ ability to accept digital currency as payment, including by taxing use of the payment method. It also stops local governments from denying crypto mining facilities in areas zoned for industrial use or applying noise restrictions specific to crypto.
There was some worry about a clause in the bill that bans a public agency from prohibiting a person’s ability to “use or accept digital assets as a method of payment for legal goods and services.”
The bill was welcomed by the founder of the local crypto mining business Megawatt.
Ilya Rekhter, who operates mining facilities in rural areas across the state, said the legislation would help prevent a sudden change in zoning laws after a business has already invested money in a facility, Rekhter said.
“We’re not asking for any special treatment,” he said, “just the same treatment.”
The committee won’t hold a vote on the bill until January.
Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@gannett.com or follow her on X @marissa_meador.
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