Coinbase partners with Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ to establish a cryptocurrency exchange, challenging Coincheck and Bitfly
Our goal is to provide services to different types of customers by lowering the entry barriers.Author: Laipeng
Today, Coinbase announced a partnership with Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to jointly establish a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, entering the highly competitive Japanese crypto market.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is known to be one of the largest banks in Japan, serving 40 million Japanese customers. At the same time, Mitsubishi Bank is also one of Coinbase's shareholders.
This partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will help millions of Japanese users quickly access Coinbase for virtual currency trading and obtain fast deposit services through the bank.
Nao Kitazawa, the head of Coinbase Japan, publicly stated: "Our goal is to provide services to different types of customers by lowering the entry barriers." Kitazawa also mentioned that accounts from other banks will not be able to trade on Coinbase.
The app store now supports downloading the Japanese version of Coinbase, which will initially launch the five cryptocurrencies with the highest trading volumes: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Stellar. In the coming months, more assets will be added, and there are plans to introduce localized versions of existing global services, such as advanced trading and Coinbase for Institutions.
It is reported that Japan currently has one of the most well-established and comprehensive regulatory systems for cryptocurrency exchanges globally, with only companies registered and licensed by the Financial Services Agency and the Ministry of Finance allowed to provide cryptocurrency services in the country. As of June this year, 31 crypto companies have registered, including bitFlyer, Coincheck, and GMO Coin.
In June of this year, Coinbase received approval from regulatory authorities in Japan, but at the same time, Coinbase will face competition from companies like Coincheck and GMO Coin, which are under the Monex Group.
Kitazawa also stated in an interview that Coinbase currently has about 30 employees in Japan and is hiring more staff for product development.
Although Coinbase initially targeted retail investors in Japan, Kitazawa mentioned that due to the global trend of more asset management companies, pension funds, and endowments investing in cryptocurrencies, "their questions have recently become more specific," and if demand is seen, the company may hire staff to cater to Japanese institutional investors.
As the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase has been working to expand its business in countries around the world. Currently, approximately 68 million verified users from over 100 countries and regions are trading virtual currencies through Coinbase.
Today, Coinbase also announced that it has enabled the feature for customers to make purchases using debit or credit cards in over 20 countries and regions in the past week. Earlier this month, Coinbase also obtained a business license in Germany.
