Why Did DMM Bitcoin Close? Hack and SBI Transfer

DMM Bitcoin ended its service on 8 March 2025 after a theft of 4,502.9 BTC in May 2024. Customer accounts and assets moved to SBI VC Trade. U.S. and Japanese authorities valued the stolen bitcoin at about $308 million at the time of the attack.

The figures come from the FBI’s joint attribution announcement. DMM’s service-termination notice records the March closure and transfer of customer yen and crypto balances.

The exchange is included in Finlazo’s closed crypto exchanges tracker. Its customer-transfer route is an important part of the record: the end of the DMM service did not mean that customers were simply instructed to abandon their accounts.

Why did DMM Bitcoin close?

The closure followed a major security incident, restrictions on services and regulatory intervention. On 26 September 2024, Japan’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau issued a business improvement order after examining DMM Bitcoin’s operations.

The regulator’s original notice identifies 31 May 2024 as the date 4,502.9 BTC of customer assets were transferred out without authorisation. It describes serious weaknesses in system-risk management, internal oversight and controls for crypto transfers.

The order required investigation of the incident, customer protection and improvements to management and security arrangements. It also set conditions for resuming suspended transactions and new account openings. A business improvement order should not be described as a criminal fraud conviction.

By 2 December 2024, SBI VC Trade had announced a basic agreement to accept DMM Bitcoin’s customer accounts and assets. That established the transfer route that preceded DMM’s final service closure.

DMM Bitcoin closure timeline

The final timing detail comes from SBI’s notice resolving migration problems. It helps distinguish the service-closure date from the completion of a reported account-display issue.

Who was blamed for the DMM Bitcoin hack?

On 23 December 2024, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center and Japan’s National Police Agency attributed the theft to North Korean cyberactors associated with TraderTraitor.

Their account of the intrusion describes a fake recruitment approach to an employee of Ginco, a Japanese wallet-software company. A malicious Python script was presented as a recruitment test. The agencies said attackers later impersonated the compromised employee and likely used their access to manipulate a legitimate transaction request from DMM.

The $308 million figure is a valuation at the time of the theft. It is not today’s value of 4,502.9 BTC, a total for all DMM customer holdings or a statement of what every customer ultimately lost.

How long did the transition take?

There were 185 calendar days between the 31 May incident and SBI’s 2 December basic agreement, followed by 96 days to the 8 March service closure and transfer. The full interval was 281 days.

These intervals describe the sequence of public milestones. They do not establish how long a particular customer was unable to transact or when that customer first accessed the receiving account.

What happened to customer accounts and assets?

SBI’s December agreement covered customer accounts, assets held in custody and associated rights. It expressly excluded the transfer of DMM’s systems and organisational personnel. Calling it a takeover of the entire DMM business would therefore misstate the announced scope.

SBI’s migration information page explains the routes for customers who already had an SBI VC Trade account and those who needed first-login setup. It also notes that differences in registered customer information could prevent automatic account matching.

SBI reported that some transferred balances missed its planned 14:00 JST reflection time on 8 March. Its resolution notice says the delayed reflections were completed around 04:00 JST on 9 March. The notice also records the resolution of a password-reset problem affecting some first-login users.

Those historical updates do not resolve an individual account discrepancy today. A customer who still cannot access an account should use SBI’s official transfer support route and retain the original migration correspondence.

Can former customers use old DMM deposit addresses?

SBI’s transfer instructions say DMM-issued deposit addresses cannot be used at the receiving service. Customers need newly issued SBI VC Trade addresses. Previously registered withdrawal destinations were not carried over either.

The instructions also highlight a network difference for Polygon: DMM supported POL on Ethereum, while SBI’s transfer guidance specified the Polygon network. That example shows why moving an account does not make every old address or network setting suitable for future transfers.

Before sending assets, check the receiving service’s current asset and network instructions. Review saved address books, recurring payments and destinations shared with other people. Keep the transfer announcement separate from any fresh deposit instructions.

Where are DMM Bitcoin account records available?

SBI’s DMM report-access guidance says historical DMM reports can be viewed through the desktop trading tool’s trader mode. It lists daily and monthly reports, annual profit-and-loss reports and data for calculating profit and loss.

Preserve the original files where possible. A screenshot can help explain a problem, but it may omit transaction details contained in an account export or statement.

What the closure means for someone choosing an exchange

DMM’s case brings several separate questions into view: how assets are protected, what happens after a security incident, and how customers regain account access when a service ends.

Check the legal operator, country eligibility, supported payment route, quoted costs and withdrawal conditions before opening or funding another account. A familiar token name does not confirm that two providers support the same blockchain network.

Finlazo’s Buy Crypto page lets readers explore assets and buying options. Availability must be checked for your country and account. Finlazo does not administer DMM’s transfer or provide access to SBI-held balances.

For a separate case involving a hack and a UK liquidation, read what happened to Lykke Corp UK. The exchange closure directory compares the documented routes without assuming that every shutdown leads to the same customer outcome.