DMM Bitcoin, $BTC Japanese centralized cryptocurrency exchange, will close after losing $320 million in bitcoins due to large-scale fraud in May. The company, unable to recover the lost funds, plans to liquidate its assets and transfer client assets to SBI VC Trade of the SBI group.

According to a Nikkei report from December 2, the platform is ceasing attempts to resume operations after failing to recover the stolen funds. A hack of the private key, which the company refers to as an 'unauthorized leak,' affected 450,000 customer accounts and assets worth 96.2 billion yen. The attack, considered the second-largest cryptocurrency theft in the region after the 2018 Coincheck hack of $530 million, resulted in the loss of over 4,500 bitcoins from a single wallet.

Following the hack, the company suspended withdrawals, the opening of new accounts, and trading, assuring customers that all deposited funds would be 'fully guaranteed.' DMM Bitcoin also promised to provide an equivalent amount of BTC to compensate users with financial support from its subsidiaries. $XRP $PEPE