Analysis: Coincheck heist sheds light on Japan's rush to create cryptocurrency rules

Cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck's signboard is pictured in front of a building where their office is located in Tokyo, Japan February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

TOKYO (Reuters) - After the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange was stung by a half-billion dollar theft in 2014, Japanese regulators swung into action.

Their goal was to craft rules that both protected traders and allowed a promising sector to flourish. By last April, thought they had arrived at a set of guidelines that did just that.