Apr 07 (Kyodo) - Japanese online brokerage Monex Group Inc. said Friday it has agreed to purchase all outstanding shares in troubled cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc. for 3.6 billion yen ($33.6 million).
The move would give Coincheck the financial backing necessary to rebuild after losing 58 billion yen of customers' digital assets in a hacking attack earlier this year, while allowing Monex to gain a foothold in the cryptocurrency business.
Monex will acquire 45.2 percent of shares from Coincheck founder and CEO Koichiro Wada, 5.5 percent from board member Yusuke Otsuka, and the remaining 49.3 percent from six other shareholders on April 16.
Monex had considered registering itself in order to enter the cryptocurrency business, but decided instead to acquire Coincheck.