According to reports, a system error at a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange saw a customer try to make off with a big sum of bitcoin.
In accordance with Reuters, the Zaif exchange, controlled by Osaka-based Tech Bureau Corp., saw the short accident last week which allowed users to make crypto purchases for free.
When users realized the situation, they attempted to make the most of the 20-minute window for free coins. One of them, according to the Asahi Shimbun, even placed a order for bitcoin worth 2,200 trillion yen ($20 trillion) at the time; then moving to quickly sell it again.
Tech Bureau Corp. declared yesterday that the accident had happened on Feb. 16, explaining that 7 users had purchased bitcoins for free.
The company then cancelled the transactions and corrected the users’ balances, Asahi states. However, a Reuters source supposes that the correction is still being negotiated with 1 of the 7 users who tried to transfer the free cryptocurrencies away from the Zaif platform.
At least one user tried to resell their bitcoin, according to Asahi, but the huge amount of cryptocurrency caused attention soon, even outside the exchange.
According to the report, a Tech Bureau official apologized for the incident and stated the company would take measures to prevent such errors from reoccurring.
This comes when Japan’s exchanges are already under pressure over technical standards after the Coincheck exchange suffered a huge hack last month. The country’s finance watchdog, the Financial Services Agency, was asked by the government to make inspections at a number of unlicensed exchanges on Feb. 16 to ensure their levels of security are up to par.
Yesterday, a news report supposed a group of cryptocurrency exchanges is teaming up to form a new self-regulatory body in the wake of the Coincheck gap.
