Japanese financial authority inspects 32 cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Financial Services Agency of Japan announced that it is inspecting the 32 exchanges of cryptocurrencies in Japan. This includes 16 exchanges that have not obtained a license, but that are currently under review by the agency and those that already have an authorized or complete license.

The Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) published on Friday a list of 32 exchanges of cryptocurrencies in Japan. This includes 16 exchanges that are already licensed and another 16 exchanges that have applied for a license and are currently under review.

The FSA approved 11 exchanges for the first time in September last year: Money Partners, Quoine, Bitflyer, Bit Bank, SBI virtual currencies, GMO Coin, Bittrade, Btcbox, Bitpoint, Fisco Virtual Currency and Zaif.

Then, in early December, 4 companies were approved to operate cryptocurrency exchanges: Tokyo Bitcoin Exchange, Bit Arg Exchange Tokyo, FTT Corporation and Xtheta Corporation. At the end of December, another exchange, Bitocean, was approved. In total, 16 companies are licensed to operate cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan.

Prior to Friday, the FSA has never disclosed the names of the companies that have applied for a license and are under review. In addition to the 16 exchanges mentioned above, another 16 are currently not licensed, but are classified as "virtual currency exchange operators estimated" while they are under review, the agency explained. Among them is Coincheck, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

The other 15 are Bitcoin Minnano, Payward Japan, Lemuria Bitcoin Exchange (Bitcrements), Campfire Corporation, Tokyo Gateway, Lastroots Corporation, Debit, Eternal Link, FSHO Corporation, Kirin Corporation, Bit Station, Blue Dream Japan, Mr. Exchange, Bmex Corporation and Bitexpress Corporation.

The agency published this list of all exchanges in response to Coincheck's hack, where 58 billion yen (~ USD $ 530 million) was stolen from NEM last week. Although the exchange has promised to pay its 260,000 affected customers with its own capital, a timetable has not been established.

Japanese financial authority that inspected 32 cryptocurrency exchanges. After the piracy, the FSA issued a commercial improvement order to Coincheck and ordered it to submit a report before February 13, along with measures to avoid a repetition. The agency also conducted an on-site inspection of the exchange on Friday to "guarantee the protection of users," the Times of Japan quoted Finance Minister Taro Aso as saying. The agency also plans to find out if Coincheck has the financial resources to pay its customers.

In addition, the FSA has ordered internal inspections of all other cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan based on a checklist of 43 items, according to Jiji Press. They should send reports of their risk management systems, such as the details of their systems to manage client assets and cyberattack countermeasures.