OKCoin to launch in Japan after obtaining license

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

OKCoin exchange is expanding to Japan after securing an operating license in the East Asian country. Traders in Japan will now be able to deposit and withdraw the yen for their digital currencies, the exchange revealed.

In a press release shared with CoinGeek, OKCoin announced that it had completed its registration with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. It is now licensed as a “virtual currency exchange service provider based on Japan’s Payment Services Act.” Through its OKCoin Japan entity, the exchange will now allow traders to deposit and withdraw the yen for ETH, LTC, ETC, BCH and BTC.

OKCoin established its Japanese subsidiary back in September 2017. Since then, it has focused on “building a comprehensive framework of business operation and internal governance to ensure its compliance with the Payment Services Act and related regulations, business guidelines issued by the Japanese financial regulator Financial Services Agency (FSA), and self-regulatory rules promulgated by the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA).”

The Japanese yen becomes the latest fiat currency to be supported by the exchange. Earlier this month, it announced that it had launched support for the Singaporean dollar in light of increased use in the Asian financial hub. It also opened a local office to boost its presence in Singapore. Other currencies include the U.S. dollar and the euro.

OKCoin Japan will launch its services soon and is now accepting pre-registration of customer accounts.

The Japanese market can be tough to enter for digital assets service providers, with regulators being quite stringent on the industry. Even though Japan has traditionally been one of the industry’s biggest supporters, some high-profile hacks—with the $530 million Coincheck hack being the most renowned—have made the regulators more cautious.

The CEO of OKCoin Japan, John Feng revealed that the exchange has become the first to gain this coveted approval this year, stating, “The license granted today despite the serious coronavirus situation in Tokyo was a pat on the back for us. It shows not only the regulator’s commitment to the crypto industry but also its strong support to OKCoin Japan. This is the first license issued this year—and the first ever to a global crypto exchange that obtained it through the regular application process.”

OKCoin Japan will go beyond provision of digital currency trading and delve into expanding the reach of blockchain technology in the country. “By exploring cutting-edge technologies with the ideals of the blockchain, we realize technological innovation and industrial restructuring and actively contribute to the development of the industry.”