Zaif Exchange Reveals Refund Plan for $60 Million Crypto Hack

[Pegasus]

Tech Bureau, the firm behind the Japanese crypto exchange Zaif, has revealed a refund plan to compensate users after a $60 million hack that happened on the platform last month.

Tech Bureau said on Wednesday in a release that it signed an agreement with Fisco – a publicly listed investment firm in Japan – to transfer the business of Zaif to Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange. The two stated this approach would avoid further risks for Fisco and users on the platform.

Zaif, currently one of the 16 licensed crypto exchanges in Japan, experienced a hack on Sept. 20 when some $60 million worth of cryptocurrencies got stolen, including nearly 6,000 bitcoin. Other compromised assets included bitcoin cash and the monacoin cryptocurrency, as CoinDesk previously reported.

As part of the business transfer deal, Tech Bureau said Fisco would resume the customer compensation process, which would use its own bitcoin and bitcoin cash to refund users who lost the two crypto assets. According to a statement by Fisco, the company started operating a bitcoin exchange in August 2016.

Meanwhile, for the stolen monacoin, Tech Bureau said Fisco would pay back users in the Japanese yen at a rate of 144.548 yen, or $1.28, per unit.

Based on the announcement, the two now expect to host shareholder meetings in October before they execute the business transfer on Nov. 22.

Tech Bureau said after that, it would dissolve its cryptocurrency exchange business and abolish the license registered with the Financial Services Agency, Japan's financial market regulator.

CoinDesk previously reported that right after the hack, Tech Bureau made an initial agreement with Fisco that the latter would offer 5 billion yen, or $44.5 million, to support Zaif's compensation plan and to acquire a major ownership of the platform. Yet after negotiations, the two made changes to the initial plan with a business transfer approach.

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