On December 2nd, DMM Bitcoin, a prominent Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, disclosed a significant capital raise totaling approximately 55 billion yen (equivalent to 365.1 million USD) in June. The funding was sourced through various financing strategies that included a 5 billion yen (or 33.2 million USD) loan secured on June 3rd, alongside a substantial 48 billion yen (around 318.6 million USD) via capital augmentation on June 7th. An additional 2 billion yen (approximately 13.3 million USD) was raised through subordinated borrowing on June 10th. However, following a severe Bitcoin theft amounting to 48.2 billion yen in late May, DMM Bitcoin announced its impending closure, looking to transfer customer assets to SBI VC Trade by March 2025.
Despite previous efforts to restructure after the incident where 4502.9 BTC were stolen, leading to losses of roughly 305 million USD, DMM Bitcoin’s operations will wind down after facilitating the asset transition. SBI VC Trade is set to initiate spot trading for the 14 cryptocurrencies previously available on DMM Bitcoin, thereby ensuring continuity for affected customers as the custody transfer proceeds.