CryptoWatch: Coinbase's Exit from Japan, Bitzlato with Ransomware Groups, and 'Dookey Dash' NFT Game

The cryptocurrency industry faced several changes in the last week, and it centers on the Coinbase exchange platform's exit from Japan, and the controversy that Bitzlaro faced after its partnerships with ransomware groups. CryptoWatch also saw the emergence of a new title from Bored Ape Yacht Club's creators, Yuga Labs, who introduced a new game called "Dookey Dash," an NFT game.

Crypto is now seeing a rise from the market, but several platforms are seeing different issues with its operations, with one pulling out, and the other dealing with threat actors.

Coinbase Exits from Japan, Why?

Coinbase announced via a blog post that it is exiting the cryptocurrency market in Japan, and the company claims that it is due to market conditions, and further evaluating its operations in the country. It offers a lead time for investors and its Japanese users to transfer their holdings to a different account or make withdrawals.

The company offers until February 16, next month, for owners to remove their holdings, earnings, and cryptocurrencies from their respective Coinbase accounts.

Starting February 17, the company would convert all holdings to Japanese yen, and a month after this date, it will then transfer all remaining balances to the guaranty account at the Legal Affairs Bureau.

Bitzlato with Ransomware Groups

Anatoly Legkodymov was arrested by authorities, and he is the known founder and current CEO of the crypto exchange platform, Bitzlato. This is because it was found that he used as much as $700 million in relation to criminal transactions, laundered the money, and was linked to two ransomware groups, Phobos and the DarkSide gang.

According to Ars Technica, Bitzlato was also linked with Conti, known for its affiliation and allegiance to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

The company played a critical role as a platform for the criminal transactions of these ransomware groups, as well as links to Hydra and Chatex who were previously shut down.

'Dookey Dash' a New NFT Game

Bored Ape Yacht Club creator, Yuga Labs, introduced a new game last week called "Dookey Dash," and it is mainly based on non-fungible tokens for access and passes. It is one of the largest trending NFT games last week when it first opened, and people were paying as much as 5.75 ETH, or around $8,770, for a pass.

NFT owners who have Bored Ape or Mutant Ape tokens have limited free access to the game. On the other hand, people may opt for the Sewer Pass which sold for almost $2,300 last week for three-week access.