bitFlyer Japan’s Assets Under Custody Reach Highest Point Since 2018

Less than a year after raising ¥3 billion ($27 million) in a record funding round by a bitcoin and Fintech company in Japan, Tokyo-based bitFlyer now sees all three of Japan’s ‘mega-banks’ as investors in the bitcoin exchange. In an announcement today, bitFlyer, Japan’s largest bitcoin exchange and blockchain services company, revealed fresh funding from Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital, both of which are the investment arms of the Mizuho Banking Corporation and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation respectively. The two banking corporations join Mitsubishi UFJ as investors in....

Japan’s biggest brokerages are looking to compete with the country’s crypto-native exchanges for digital asset market share. According to research by Messari, the top three online brokerage firms in Japan are experiencing surging revenue from their cryptocurrency exchange services.In its Asian Crypto Landscape report, Messari noted the operating revenue and net worth of exchange platforms operated by Japan’s top securities brokers is quickly catching up to that of their crypto-native rivals.Comparison of net worth and operating revenue between exchanges operated by crypto-native firms....

Self-reg entity JVCEA has reportedly received stern warnings to get its act together, as Japan’s Financial Services Agency pushes for the organization to speed up its AML regulation rollout. Japan’s self-regulation “experiment” for the crypto industry is reportedly not working as well as intended, according to local government and industry experts. Since 2018, the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulation entity, has been tasked with creating guidelines for the country’s crypto industry, with arguments at the time that the entity could be better placed to cope....

Japanese exchange Bitflyer has announced a 50 million Yen investment into a new fund which will see Osaka-based IoT startup Sivira as the first company to benefit from the fund. According to the exchange, this is in an effort to support and encourage the growth of blockchain businesses in Japan. Bitflyer has termed this new investment activity, “Block Chain Angel Fund.” Even though this is Bitflyer’s first investment of this type, it sounds as though it will not be their last. In its press release, Bitflyer states that it chose to make the investment in Sivira because of the track record....

Japan’s Blockchain Study Group, consisting of four large financial and accounting firms, today published a report on how blockchain technology will affect their industry. Local bitcoin exchange bitFlyer assisted the group by building an interbank transaction prototype. Report Acknowledges Bitcoin’s Contribution. The Blockchain Study Group (BSG) formed in....