Japan FSA approves Rakuten Wallet & DeCurret as cryptocurrency exchanges

On March 25, the Japan FSA officially licensed Rakuten Wallet and DeCurret, bringing the number of approved cryptocurrency exchanges to 19. The FSA approvals starting at the end of September 2017 with the licensing of the initial 11 virtual currency exchanges. Five more exchanges were added towards the end of 2017 (four on December 1, one on December 26). After the Coincheck hack, 2018 saw exchange inspections, business improvement orders and lots of remediation work, before Coincheck was approved as the first new exchange on January 11, 2019. Here is the complete crypto exchange list.

Kevin Newman, previously Head of Partnerships at Wirex, and intimately familiar with the regulatory licensing processes across Asia, commented: “While there are allegedly 150–200 applications outstanding with the FSA, it is believed that realistically only a potential 20 applicants are viable in the regulator’s eyes. These are essentially those who have the resources to fund another 18–24 months licensing process if the FSA decides to drip-feed approvals. Coinbase might be a good example of such a fairly established entity at the global level. The key question is how many non-Japanese exchanges will be licensed. This will be interesting to watch.”

bitbank
https://bitcoinbank.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017
Also see our story: bitbank Cryptocurrency Exchange

bitflyer
https://bitflyer.com/
Approved September 29, 2017
Also see our story: New bitflyer CEO

Bitgate
https://www.bitgate.co.jp/
Approved December 1, 2017

BitOcean
http://japan.bitocean.com/
Approved December 26, 2017, acquired by HKEX-listed Madison Group on December 28, 2018

Bit Point Japan
https://www.bitpoint.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017
Also see our story: Genki Oda, Bit Point at the Japan Blockchain Conference

BTC Box
https://www.btcbox.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017

Coincheck
https://coincheck.com/ja/exchange
Approved January 11, 2019, after exchange hack in January 2018 and subsequent acquisition by Monex Group on April 5, 2018

DeCurret
https://www.decurret.com/
Approved March 25, 2019

DMM Bitcoin
https://bitcoin.dmm.com/
Approved September 29, 2017

Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange
https://fcce.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017

GMO Coin
https://coin.z.com/wallets/
Approved September 29, 2017

Huobi Japan
https://www.huobi.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017 as BitTrade, acquired by Huobi on September 12, 2018

Money Partners
https://www.moneypartners.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017

Quoine
https://quoine.com/
Approved September 29, 2017
Also see our story: Quoine Liquid — Crypto Exchange Update

Rakuten Wallet
https://www.min-btc.com/
Approved March 25, 2019, after acquisition of “Minna no Bitcoin” (Everybody’s Bitcoin) by Rakuten on August 31, 2018

SBI Virtual Currencies
https://www.sbivc.co.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017

Tao Tao
https://taotao-ex.com/
Approved December 1, 2017 as bitArg, Yahoo! Japan acquired a 40% stake through Z Corporation on April 13, 2018

Tech Bureau
https://techbureau.jp/
Approved September 29, 2017

Xtheta
https://xtheta.co/
Approved December 1, 2017

In addition to the fully licensed exchanges (Type I members), the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) also admits so-called Type II members, consisting of those operators that have applied for licensing with the FSA, but have not been granted approval yet. Currently, there are eight such Type II members:

Coinage
https://coinage.co.jp/

Coinpedia
https://coinpedia.cc/mercury-inc

FXcoin
http://fxcoin.jp/

LastRoots
https://www.lastroots.com/

LVC Corporation (LINE)
https://lvc-corp.com/en/

Money Forward Financial
https://corp.mf-financial.jp/

OK Coin Japan
http://www.okcoin.jp/

Payward Asia
[link not available]

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