Top US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase, has announced that it will begin operations in Japan. The announcement which came yesterday will see the exchange partnering with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a financial institution with a customer base of over 40 million people. The move is to allow for easy buying and selling of cryptocurrencies for residents of Japan.
Coinbase Launches in Japan
Coinbase has begun operations in Japan, offering parts of its products and services to Japanese customers. The exchange announced that they are hoping to be the most easy-to-use and most trusted exchange in Japan that will comply fully with relevant local regulations.The company also hopes to offer its full line of products to the Japanese market in the near future, however, for now, the service is launching with offering “a suite of five top assets based on trading volume.” More products which will include advanced trading, Coinbase for institutions, and many others will be added later on.
Confirming what Coinbase hopes to achieve by this move, the blog post that broke the news says that the exchange will strive to offer a regulated cryptocurrency product, and one that’s easy to use for all potential users in the country.
Coinbase and MUFG Partnership
It is important to note that Coinbase did not enter into the Japanese market solo. The company announced that there is also a partnership with the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). The banking institution will provide direct deposit services thus allowing its customers (over 40 million), transfer funds to the exchange at a very quick rate. The service is called “MUFG Quick Deposit.”The exchange had been approved to penetrate into the Japanese market since June when the FSA, the Japanese cryptocurrency regulator, gave the nod for Coinbase to conduct bitcoin (BTC) trading, ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC), and stellar lumen (XLM).
Coinbase has been eager to break into Japan since about three years ago. Back in 2018, the exchange announced the launch of a local office in Japan and reiterated that the move was in a bid to speed up the adoption of cryptocurrency worldwide, and also vowed to work hand in hand with local regulators so as to achieve the same kind of compliance as is in the U.S markets.
