The Japanese government is slapping penalties on several crypotocurrency exchanges in the country, after ¥58 billion (US$548 million) of virtual coins were lost earlier this year from hacking.
The Japanese Financial Services Agency, which has been checking the exchanges, yesterday said that FSHO and Bit Station exchanges were ordered to halt operations for one month.
It said FSHO was not properly monitoring trades and had not carried out employee training.
The agency said it found that a Bit Station employee had taken bitcoins for personal use.
Five other exchanges, including Coincheck Inc, targeted in the massive hacking, were ordered to improve their operations.
Coincheck had received a similar order earlier to beef up security measures.
Japan is unusual in the world for embracing cryptocurrencies and setting up a licensing system to oversee their use.
The exchanges ordered to improve their operations must file a plan to the agency by March 22.
The theft at Coincheck of the NEM currency was the second major hacking assault on a Japanese cryptoexchange after the Mt. Gox debacle in 2014.
However, Japan has chosen to regulate exchanges, setting up a licensing system last year, although experts said that such measures are no guarantee against cybercrime.
Japan has officially licensed 16 virtual-currency exchanges, and more, including Coincheck, are applying for licenses. As much as half of the world’s bitcoin trading is estimated to be in yen.
Some countries like China are cracking down on virtual currencies, while other countries like the US have been cautious, encouraging their use in limited ways.
Japan has been far more accommodating to cryptocurrencies, attracting new businesses in the technology called blockchain.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six