Japanese brokerage firm Monex Group is considering to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, which was hacked earlier this year, Nikkei Asian Review reported.

In January, Coincheck suffered a major hack in which it lost around $500 million in NEM tokens. Since then, it has been seeking support from an external party.

Sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei that Monex is considering offering several billion yen for a majority stake in Coincheck and plans to set up a new management team and rebuild the exchange. They also said that the deal could be made public this week.

The companies are reportedly seeking approval from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and from shareholders to go ahead with the acquisition.

This acquisition, if successful, would mark Monex’s entry into the cryptocurrency space.

In an official statement, Monex said that while it is considering the acquisition of Coincheck, nothing has been decided at the moment.

The broker said that it has been looking into the applications of blockchain technology. On these lines, it has also established the Monex Virtual Currency Institute in January this year.