Over 190 Companies Want To In Japanese Crypto Market

In an exclusive interview with news.Bitcoin.com, Japan’s prime financial regulator has confirmed the number of companies presently eager to enter the japanese cryptocurrency market. Meanwhile, many existing crypto exchanges in the country are undergoing changes.

Over 190 Firms Want In

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) confirmed to news.Bitcoin.com on Wednesday the number of companies so far that have expressed interest to register as cryptocurrency operators. The FSA said:

This number is 30 additional companies than the previous count the agency disclosed in August. At that time, the FSA said that 160 operators had expressed intention to enter the japanese cryptocurrency market.

While the FSA didn't discuss specific applications, some companies have created announcements themselves concerning their plans to begin crypto-related businesses. Among them are Line corp., Yahoo! Japan, money Forward inc., Drecom Co. Ltd., Yamane Medical corp., Adways Inc., Avex Inc., Daiwa Securities group, Samurai & J Partners, Appbank inc., I-Freek Mobile inc., Forside Co. Ltd., and Fasteps Co. Ltd.

Japan's Changing Crypto Landscape

There are presently 16 registered crypto exchanges in Japan. Under the revised Payment Services Act, crypto operators should register with the FSA. Japan also has 3 deemed dealers, that are companies that have been allowed to control while their applications are being reviewed by the regulator. They're Coincheck, Lastroots, and Everybody’s Bitcoin.

In September, regulated crypto exchange Zaif was hacked and was subsequently taken over by another regulated exchange, Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange inc. Bittrade was recently acquired by Huobi and is in the process of relaunching as Huobi Japan. Madison group has announced an idea to acquire a stake in Bitocean, another registered exchange. In addition, Ceres Inc. announced on Thursday a capital tie-up with crypto exchange Xtheta to start a joint service next spring.

Among deemed dealers, Coincheck was acquired by Monex group after it was hacked in January. Everybody’s Bitcoin was acquired by mega e-commerce and internet giant Rakuten inc. Despite acquisitions, the FSA confirmed to news.Bitcoin.com on Wednesday that Japan still presently has 16 registered crypto exchanges.

DMM and GMO

DMM com, the parent company of DMM Bitcoin, a regulated crypto exchange, announced on Tuesday that it'll not launch its Cointap app. The company began accepting registration for this service in January and initially planned to release the app in the spring. The e-commerce giant emphasized that the group can continue to offer crypto trading services at DMM Bitcoin.

GMO internet, the parent company of crypto exchange GMO Coin, also announced on Tuesday that it'll not develop, manufacture or sell cryptocurrency mining machines, though it'll continue to mine in-house. However, GMO said that this decision won't affect services by GMO Coin or the development of its yen-pegged stablecoin, which was announced in Oct.