Along with the unprecedented run-up of the crypto markets last year, Coinbase’s rise to fame has been at a similar lightning fast speed as the crypto exchange witnessed over 13 million registrations during the same time period. As the result, the crypto exchange recently has been seen some aggressive in Europe. Apart from this, the crypto exchange recently ventured into the asset management space by announcing a new .
Yesterday on April 6, the company announced the launch of a new incubator fund for early startups called the Coinbase Ventures. In its official , the company said: “We’ll be providing financing to promising early-stage companies that have the teams and ideas that can move the space forward in a positive, meaningful way.”
While talking to CNBC about the plans of Coinbase Ventures, Coinbase President and Chief Operating Officer Asiff Hirji said: “We’re going to invest off our balance sheet into crypto companies. We will invest in companies that are in the space and are aligned with our values.”
The CEO further disclosed that the fund has already got a head-start of $15 million and is on its way to grow. The seed-stage investments in the Coinbase Venture fund will begin this week and more importantly, it will help companies in the blockchain and crypto space to get the initial thrust to begin. said in order to this it is possible that it might even invest in its competitors.
The official blog post mentions the company saying: “You may also see us invest in companies that ostensibly look competitive with Coinbase. We’re taking a long-term view of the space, and we believe that multiple approaches are healthy and good.”
Harji clearly mentioned that the company has an emphasis on finding founders and not just any other money-making cryptocurrency. Harji said: “By giving them access to capital we hope that they will grow great businesses. It’s not about investing in the token, it’s not about trying to line up tokens that we would put on our exchange.”
While talking about adding new digital currencies to the company’s GDAX exchange, Harji said that the company is not considering this at the moment till the time more clarity on crypto regulations arrive. However, he said that when it comes to select any new digital currency, Coinbase ventures will not give special priority to the companies they invest in. “We are not investing in currencies because we do not want even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Making another important announcement yesterday, the crypto exchange will not support the withdrawal of bitcoin forks. This means that holders of certain coins will get free access to some of the newly created coins.
In a separate , the company said: “This change will allow customers to more easily withdraw assets associated with bitcoin Forks across all Coinbase products. We are not announcing support for any specific assets at this time. As always, we look at technical, operational, and legal considerations when deciding which bitcoin Fork assets to support and will always state on our website which particular assets are supported.”
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The Financial Services Authority of Japan has imposed penalties on three cryptocurrency exchanges following inspections of trading platforms in the country. Two of them have been ordered to suspend operations. Officials are not satisfied with the measures implemented to prevent money laundering and systemic risks.
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FSHO, Eternal Link Suspended, Lastroots Told to Improve
The sanctioned crypto platforms – FSHO, Eternal Link, and Lastroots – have received orders to improve their business practices. These were issued by Japan’s financial regulator as part of the ongoing inspections of cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the Financial Services Authority (), the penalties have been imposed because of unsatisfactory procedures to prevent money laundering and minimize systems risk.
The Japanese financial regulator has ordered two of the trading platforms to suspend their operations for two months. Eternal Link should halt activities from Friday, April 6, and FSHO was told to do the same on April 8, Reuters reports. Lastroots has received an order to improve its practices. Japan’s Minister of Finance is expected to present the full results of the investigations carried out by the FSA.
In March, FSA suspended two exchanges – the Nagoya-based Bit Station and again FSHO, which was ordered to terminate services until April 7. The agency said its operator was not performing thorough checks on large-scale transactions and had not implemented necessary measures “to run the exchange in a decent and assured way”. According to Japanese press, Bit Station was penalized because its senior officials were implicated in embezzlement of clients’ crypto deposits. Similar charges have led to the of four high-ranking representatives of two cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea.
In early February, FSA said it was inspecting all crypto trading platforms in the country, including 16 that were not registered at the time of the announcement. The financial authority a list of 32 crypto exchanges, half of which had already obtained licenses to provide cryptocurrency exchange services.
Aftermath of a Huge Hack
Japan’s financial regulator undertook the revisions in the wake of the in January. Hackers stole ¥58 billion worth of NEM (~$550 million USD) from the Japanese exchange. Authorities are still investigating the heist, one of the biggest in crypto history. Cybersecurity experts have warned that half of the stolen NEM coins might have been laundered already on the darknet.
Cryptocurrency theft has become a major security issue in Japan, part of the growing cybercrime trend. Last year alone, $6.3 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen, and that’s before the Coincheck hack.
Japanese authorities have decided to set up a center dedicated to combatting cybercrime, including crypto theft. 500 analysts and investigators from different branches of the country’s law enforcement agencies have joined the unit. At least 149 crypto-related attacks took place in 2017, Japan’s National Police Agency recently revealed.
Earlier this week, news came out that Tokyo-based Monex Group was considering . On Friday, the deal with the online financial brokerage was confirmed. The team behind the hacked exchange has the acquisition bid worth ¥3.6 billion Japanese yen (~$33.6 million USD).
Do you expect more cryptocurrency exchanges to be suspended by Japanese authorities? Share your thoughts on the measures taken by the FSA in the comments section below.
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