Japan's Financial Services Agency ordered FSHO and Bit Station to halt their operations for a month and directed five other cryptocurrency exchanges to improve their practices, Agence France-Presse reported March 8, citing a statement from the regulator.
The regulator took the action as part of its clampdown following a US$530-million cryptocurrency theft in January. Both the exchanges were ordered to suspend operations for a month starting March 8. The regulator alleged FHSO does not have a proper monitoring system for trading and has not trained its staff. An employee of Bit Station was accused of diverting investors' virtual currencies for his personal use.
Neither of the exchanges were available for comment, AFP reported.
In addition, the regulator ordered five other exchanges, including Coincheck Inc., to improve their business practices.
The move came after hackers stole 523 million units of cryptocurrency NEM from Coincheck's platform. The theft prompted Japanese regulators to raid Coincheck's offices in February and begin a clampdown on cryptocurrency trading and business practices.
