- DMM Bitcoin is shutting down its operations after losing $320 million in a May hack.
- The platform will liquidate funds and move customer assets to SBI Group’s SBI VC Trade.
- The hack is the largest since Dec 2022 and the 7th largest crypto hack ever.
DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese centralized crypto exchange, will shut down after losing $320 million in Bitcoin in a massive fraud in May. The company, unable to recover the lost funds, plans to liquidate its assets and transfer customer assets to SBI Group’s SBI VC Trade.
According to a December 2 report from Nikkei, the platform is ending its efforts to resume operations after failing to recover the stolen funds. The private key hack, which the company calls an “unauthorized leak,” affected 450,000 client accounts and 96.2 billion yen in assets. The attack, considered the second largest crypto heist in the region after the $530 million Coincheck hack in 2018, resulted in the loss of more than 4,500 Bitcoins from a single wallet.
Following the hack, the company suspended withdrawals, new account openings, and trading, assuring clients that all deposit funds would be “fully guaranteed.” DMM Bitcoin also promised to secure an equivalent amount of BTC to compensate users with financial support from its affiliate companies.
Read also: U.S. Gov Loses $20M in Crypto Hack, 88% Recovered
In a July 14 post on X, crypto sleuth ZachXBT revealed that about $35 million in stolen assets were laundered to Huione Guarantee, a notorious hub for crypto scams. ZachXBT also suggested the hack’s potential connections with North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Meanwhile, Chainalysis called the DMM Bitcoin hack the biggest since December 2022 and the 7th largest crypto hack ever. At the time, the hack represented 19% of the stolen value in 2024. Though 2024 saw multiple crypto hacks, the DMM Bitcoin breach remains the most severe. Over the last 12 months, the crypto industry has suffered massive heists, including the $235 million WazirX hack, the $52 million BingX hack, and the $55 million BtcTurk hot wallet hack.
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