Yahoo Japan Joins the Bitcoin Bandwagon: Set to Launch Cryptocurrency Exchange

Cryptocurrency is the rave of the moment, and Japan remains the crypto capital of the globe despite the recent clampdown on unregistered exchanges. Favorite Japanese internet heavyweight, Yahoo Japan, has announced plans to venture into the crazy world of crypto.

Yahoo! Japan Takes the Dive into Crypto

After several years of success in the Japanese technology space, Yahoo Japan is looking to embark on another exciting adventure into the nascent world of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

The Asian internet heavyweight has hinted it would buy 40 percent stake in BitARG, a registered Japanese exchange based in Tokyo. This smart move will enable Yahoo Japan to seamlessly launch its cryptocurrency exchange in April 2019, without getting into trouble with the Japanese regulatory authorities since BitARG has already registered with the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).

Although Yahoo Japan exchange will be built from the ground-up, it could make use of some of BitARG Exchange Tokeyo’s existing systems.

Exchange Will be FSA Compliant

Since the Coincheck hack and the Zaif technical error incidence that nearly gifted users $20 trillion in cryptos, the Japanese FSA has tightened its grip on the nation’s crypto ecosystem.  

Yahoo Japan has hinted it would commit more funds into BitARG Exchange Tokyo in 2019, to further boost operations. Both firms have reported the details of their new found business understanding to the FSA.

According to Nikkei, the acquisition of 40 percent of the shares in BitARG will be processed by a Yahoo subsidiary, YJFX which is a firm that deals with foreign exchange services. The deal is worth 2 billion yen ($19 million). For now, the stake will be comprised of the firm’s outstanding shares as well as newly issued stock.

The Yahoo team is wasting no time at all in their quest to set up a world-class crypto exchange. The YJFX top officials will commence work at BitARG in April 2018. They will start building new systems, overhauling the existing ones, formulate a corporate governance structure that would be of world class standard as well as develop a new customer management system and internal controls.

Increasing Competition in the Exchange Market

From all indications, Yahoo Japan is not just interested in creating a regular cryptocurrency exchange. The company might just be looking to become the next biggest exchange in Japan.

On March 23, reports emerged that the world’s number one crypto exchange Binance was being warned by the Japanese regulatory authorities to get registered or leave the nation.

However, the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao has claimed on Twitter that the report of the Binance-FSA faceoff was false. On that same day, the Zhao told Bloomberg that preparations were in top gear for a fresh start in Malta. “We are very confident we can announce a banking partnership there soon. Malta is very progressive when it comes to crypto and Fintech,” Zhao declared.

With Binance on its way to Malta due to regulatory bottlenecks, the Yahoo exchange is in line to be the next big thing in Japan.