The Japanese Financial Services Agency has
approved four more cryptocurrency exchanges to
legally operate in Japan. This is the second
round of approvals by the agency; the first was
for 11 exchanges in September.
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Stock Exchange Plans to Trade Bitcoin
Futures
More Crypto Exchanges Approved by FSA
The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA)
has posted on its website the details of four new
cryptocurrency exchanges which the agency
approved on December 1. This is the second
time the FSA has approved a list of crypto
exchanges. The first time was on September 29
when 11 exchanges were awarded registration.
The FSA explained that only the digital
currencies handled by the approved 15
exchanges are confirmed to “correspond to the
definition under the fund settlement law,” based
on information provided by each exchange. The
fund settlement law went into effect on April 1.
It legalizes bitcoin as a method of payment in
Japan and requires cryptocurrency exchanges to
register with the FSA.
The four companies approved in this round are
recently established exchanges: Tokyo Bitcoin
Exchange Co. Ltd, Bit Arg Exchange Tokyo Co.
Ltd, FTT Corporation, and Xtheta Corporation.
According to the FSA’s website, three of the four
companies above have only been approved to
trade bitcoin (BTC). Only Xtheta Corporation has
been approved to trade additional
cryptocurrencies: ether (ETH), bitcoin cash
(BCH), ripple (XRP), litecoin (LTC), ethereum
classic (ETC), NEM (XEM), monacoin (MONA),
and counterparty tokens (XCP).
More Applications Being Reviewed
The FSA is still reviewing a number of
applications. At the end of September, on top of
the 11 exchanges approved at the time, Nikkei
reported that 17 companies were under “ongoing
review.” Twelve companies did not meet the
agency’s registration requirements and
subsequently closed down their exchange
operations.
Among the applications currently being reviewed
is one from Japan’s second largest bitcoin
exchange, Coincheck. The exchange issued a
statement on Friday clarifying that its application
to register as a “virtual currency exchange
trader” was submitted on September 13 and is
still currently “under review.” Nonetheless,
Coincheck assured its customers that “we are
still able to provide the service as usual.”
Last month, the FSA published a document
clarifying its administrative policies including on
cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
It outlines how cryptocurrency exchanges will be
monitored. This follows the agency’s
announcement that it has begun monitoring the
eleven exchanges which were approved in
September.
Do you think Japan can have too many
cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in
the comments section below.