Today, Coinbase, the top crypto exchange in the U.S official launched its products and services in Japan along with a partnership announcement with one of the largest banks in Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), which boasts of serving 40 million Japanese customers. From today, trading services will be available from dedicated iOS / Android apps and websites.
What you should know
Coinbase was founded in 2012 in San Francisco, USA. It offers crypto asset trading service that has been deployed in more than 100 countries and has a total of 68 million users, total assets under custody exceed $180 billion and quarterly transaction volume exceeds $462 billion. It became the first crypto centralized exchange to list on the Nasdaq market in April 2021.
According to the publication by Coinbase, the partnership with MUFG will help millions of people in Japan access the platform quickly and begin trading on Coinbase’s exchange by offering MUFG Quick Deposit for all customers in Japan from day one. This means MUFG will provide a fast fiat on-and-off ramp for Coinbase customers in Japan.
The publication also stated that Coinbase will be launching retail products first including a suite of five top assets based on trading volume and will add more assets and products in the coming months. On this, the announcement stated, “In line with our global strategy, we will aim to be the easiest to use and most trusted exchange in Japan that’s fully compliant with local regulations.”
It also stated, “We also plan to introduce more localized versions of globally popular services such as advanced trading, Coinbase for Institutions, and more in the future.”
Coinbase has had its eye on the Japanese market for a while now. In October 2019, the firm was seeking licensing approval from Japan’s financial regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA). In March 2020 the firm also registered as a crypto exchange with FSA-approved and official self-regulatory organization, the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA).
Bottomline
Although the publication does not say the 5 coins that will be traded in Japan, a yahoo Japan publication mentions that the coins will include; Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Stellar Lumens (XLM).
COIN is trading at $244.39, down over 25% Year-to-Date (YtD).
