As bitcoin has emerged from the underground world of nerds and criminals to become a mainstream investment, the risk of hacks and scandals has also blossomed. The WSJ's Steven Russolillo travels the world (sort of) to see how regulators are responding to the remarkable rise of cryptocurrencies. Video: Sharon Shi and Crystal TaiTOKYO—The operator of one of Japan’s leading trading platforms for cryptocurrencies said it lost $530 million in customer assets, the largest known crypto theft and a development that could chill the craze for bitcoin-related assets. Coincheck Inc., a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, said Friday that 523 million units of a virtual currency called NEM disappeared due to unauthorized access by someone outside the system. It said the missing cryptocurrency all belonged to the exchange’s customers and was valued at ¥58 billion,...

Source: Wall Street Journal January 26, 2018 17:26 UTC