🐓Japan’s financial regulator is on the regulato꧑ry offensive against several bitcoin exchanges, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter  reported.

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to dish out administrative punishment noticღes by the end of the week and will likely force som🍃e exchanges to suspend their operations.

Among its reported moves, the FSA is expected to demand that Coincheck Inc. improve its security standards after it had been targeted by hackers who stole about $350 million in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:cryptocurrency. In response that heist, the agency has required exchanges to file reports on storage and security management. (See also: 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Coincheck.)

The 𓂃FSA will dole out the pena🐷lties after it conducts on-site inspections and if it detects flaws in anti-laundering measures or in protecting consumers. The Reuters report did not specify which exchanges would be targeted for the checks nor what exactly the punishments would entail. Neither Coincheck nor the FSA provided comment.

Last year, Japan became the first country to regulate exchanges for digital currencies like bitcoin. Regulators have approved 16 exchanges for operation. An additional 16 exchanges, i꧋ncluding Coincheck, were granted permission to operate as the FSA processed 🙈their applications.

The agency is also monitoring how Coincheck, which has promised to repay hacking victims a total of $425 million, is progressing with its compensation plan♓s. 

Bitcoin’s value has gain some traction in recent weeks, but slid 0.95 percent against the dollar by midday Wednesday in New York, according to website Cointelegraph. Bitcoin was trading at about $10,746.65 per U.S. dollar, down by nearly 50% from its high near $20,000 in December. (See also: Bitcoin Price Tumbles as Cryptocurrency Bloodbath Continues.)

Source: Cointelegraph

So far this year, bitcoin is down about 25.5 percent, although in the past month the volatile asset has gained 31.6 percent. Bitcoin recently drew the lowest number of official transactions per day as it had in the past two years, according to a . (See also: Bitcoin Trading Volume Plunges to Two-Year Low.)

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