In light of all the FUD created by overzealous Chinese authorities, Japan is setting an example on how governments should handle cryptocurrencies. CoinCheck has become the first Japanese exchange to be approved by the FSA as licensed virtual currency exchange. This is the first license issued by the Japanese authorities and more are expected to follow suit.
Earlier in April this year, the FSA, Japan’s Financial watchdog, announced that all cryptocurrency exchanges must obtain legal licenses to continue further operations in the country. However, they performed this audit process without stalling the widespread usage of cryptocurrencies.
CoinCheck had begun approval processes with the FSA back in June. All Japanese exchanges had been allowed a grace period of 6 months to successfully apply for this position, and one by one, the approvals promise to come through. This can be attributed to the fact that Japan, as a government, has been lenient and even bullish, to an extent, about cryptocurrencies. This has resulted in Japan often seeing maximum trade volumes. Today alone, CoinCheck has traded over 51,000 bitcoins. This amounts to close to 200 million dollars in trade on a single day.
CoinCheck is also in the forefront on how bitcoin exchanges should grow. They have been working on a Bitcoin savings bank account, pending regulatory clearances. Furthermore, they have also been working on a comprehensive ICO solution which will help startups dealing in cryptocurrency with legal and regulatory help and provide an initial investment as well.
It’s heartening to see how Japan is embracing cryptocurrencies while putting sufficient regulation in check. Especially after the downfall of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, Japanese regulations seem to be more embracing of exchange operations. And given how China is dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges, the timing of this news couldn’t better. We hope more exchanges make the FSA clearance.
Hitesh Malviya is the Founder of ItsBlockchain. He is one of the most early adopters of blockchain & cryptocurrency enthusiast in India. After being into space for a few years, he started IBC in 2016 to help other early adopters learn about the technology.
Before IBC, Hitesh has founded 4 companies in the cyber security & IT space.
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