The president of the platform of electronic exchange Coincheck Koichiro Wada bows as a sign of apology after a break-in massive virtual Tokyo, January 26, 2018 (Photo -. JIJI PRESS)
From New Delhi to Moscow, the bitcoin is concerned. From MtGox to Coincheck, millions volatilize and customers cry foul to the scam. However, in the opinion of the experts, the cryptomonnaies are here to stay.
There’s just a week, the platform for electronic exchanges tokyo Coincheck revealed to have been a victim of the biggest heist the history of the virtual currencies: in one night, the hackers were stealing assets in the NEM is equivalent to 58 billion yen (430 million euros).
The courses of these currencies fell immediately. Anything to stop the fever that seized last year in Japan?
Quite the contrary, we are assured in bitFlyer, which today is the main trading platform of the bitcoin in the archipelago. “Of course it hurts our reputation, but at the same time many people have since expressed their interest and the number of new registrations has increased,” Midori Kanemitsu, chief financial officer of the company.
“The cryptomonnaies seem to be stainless,” says Stephen Innes, head of transactions, Asia-Pacific at Oanda, a financial services company specializing in the foreign exchange market. “They have fallen many times, but have always been able to be reborn from their ashes. If the theft of 500 million dollars did not erode the confidence of investors, what then?”
– Between innovation and regulation –
Everywhere in the world, the alarmist talk is growing.
On Tuesday, the network of american social Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) announced the prohibition of any advertising related to cryptomonnaies in order to counter the attempts of scam.
In Davos, the british Finance minister Philip Hammond has called to regulate the bitcoin, a topic that will be on the menu of the summit G20 Finance planned in Buenos Aires in march, where Paris and Berlin is expected to present joint proposals.
South Korea and China, have already hardened the tone, Russia has come forward with a bill, and India is considering a ban.
Japan has been leading the way in convening, as soon as April 2017, the use of cryptomonnaies, in order to prevent incidents and to protect the interests of users after the spectacular bankruptcy filing, in 2014, the company exchanges of bitcoins MtGox.
Las, this law has not prevented the case of Coincheck, she even has given businesses and investors a false sense of security, sparking a frenzy in the country. “We must strengthen our supervision,” admitted this week the minister of Finance Taro Aso.
Any difficulty, it is to regulate without blocking the innovation represented by the technology that is behind, namely the “blockchain”, says lawyer Ken Kawai, subject-matter specialist, who was speaking Thursday at the foreign correspondents ‘ club of Japan.
Unlike the dollar or euro, bitcoin is not issued by central banks, but “mined”, or created, in a decentralized manner by computers using complex algorithms to produce a chain of blocks of transactions are coded and authenticated, technology called the “blockchain”.
– 2018, a turning point? –
After the hacking of Coincheck, which has highlighted major security flaws, there is a call for a stricter control of trade platforms, in the image of what is happening in the banking sector.
The company, where the japanese authorities have completed on Friday, a search, has, it seems, neglected to take the necessary precautionary measures. “There is a certain laziness of engineers”, while “it takes work to build a system that is” tamper resistant, ” says Hikaru Kusaka, co-founder of Blockhive, a developer of blockchain, and former advisor to the government.
Such mishaps may happen again, and again and again,” he warns.
But nothing will stop the technology blockchain. “Last year, there has been a lot of speculation, but currently some interesting projects see the light of day,” says Mr. Kawai, who hopes to see a turning point in 2018 with the disappearance of some cryptomonnaies and the appearance of other, more stable.
The broker Oanda book a prognosis similar even if it is to be expected other dégringolades.
The bitcoin, which was trading Friday in-below 9,000 dollars after flirting in December, the $ 20,000, should eventually find “the right balance, within a range of 10 to 15,000 dollars”. “And as traditional players will enter the arena, the volatility will decrease”, he says.
