It has been rumored for some time now, but Monex will finally buy Coincheck. It seems the transaction will be completed for the sum of $33.59 million, which is a lot lower than people initially expected. For the troubled Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, this news comes at a very intriguing moment. How this acquisition will affect the trading platform remains to be seen.
Coincheck Finds a new Buyer
The year 2018 has been quite a troublesome one for Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck. Even though the company is one of the more solid trading platforms in Japan, the hack which saw 500 million NEM being stolen earlier this year shook up the industry. In fact, some people expected the company to go bankrupt as a result, but things never got to that point. In fact, the company repaid all affected customers out of pocket and showed the cryptocurrency world how resilient this trading platform really was.
Unfortunately, repaying customers only solved part of the problem for Coincheck. The company also faces additional scrutiny from Japanese regulators, who are still investigating the hacking incident. As such, the future of Coincheck remains in question, even though it seems things are slowly heading in the right direction again.
More specifically, the past few weeks have been abuzz with rumors regarding Coincheck being acquired by online brokerage firm Monex Group. Even though there was never any real evidence to indicate the latter company was interested in the exchange, it seems both parties have reached an agreement. Monex Group will acquire Coincheck for $33.59 million.
Although that seems like a small amount, it is evident the company was not planning to pay more for full ownership of the exchange. Given Coincheck’s recent issues and regulatory scrutiny, it appears to be a fair offer, all things considered. The goal is to execute this deal by April 16, with the Coincheck CEO and COO resigning from the board of directors at that time. They will remain on board as executive directors, though.
As one would expect, this news has sent the Monex Group’s shares in an upward spiral. At its peak, the stock price jumped by a stunning 20%, indicating Japanese investors are still quite keen on cryptocurrency in general. Whether or not that sentiment will remain in place when the acquisition officially happens is a different matter altogether. It remains unclear if anything will change for existing Coincheck customers.
For the exchange itself, this news comes at the best possible moment. With an investigation underway and discussions relating to this recent hack still taking center stage, it seems the puzzle pieces are finally falling into place. From March 2017 to March 2018, the company generated a net income of $4.4 million, which is not terrible, all things considered.
