Binance to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan

By the end of the summer, Binance will return to Japan’s digital assets market, promised at the WebX conference by the platform’s CEO Changpeng Zhao, Bloomberg reports.

In 2022, the company acquired the Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) trading platform, registered with the FSA.

Takeshi Chino, general manager of Binance Japan, said at the time that the firm intended to cooperate with regulators and develop the exchange in line with local requirements.

Initially, it was planned that the platform would begin operations on May 31. Clients would have access to up to 30 cryptocurrencies for spot trading.

Chino said that later the platform would add stablecoins to its listing. From June 1 came into force the law on ‘stablecoins’, which are recognised as ‘digital money’.

In 2018, the FSA issued Binance with a warning about the need to obtain a licence to continue operating in the country. The regulator also tightened the risk assessment process when opening new cryptocurrency exchanges.

Two years later, Binance decided to restrict access for Japanese users to the platform. Later it emerged that the exchange and the local crypto-trading firm TaoTao did not reach an agreement on creating a joint venture.

In the summer of 2021, the FSA sent Binance another warning for operating without registration.

In September 2022, the crypto exchange submitted a renewed application for a license in the country.

Speaking at the same conference, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida noted the government’s initiatives to promote Web3 in the country.

The country’s leader expressed hope that the conference would serve as a platform for big companies to announce significant projects aimed at creating economic zones in the metaverse.

In October 2022, the prime minister announced government investments in virtual worlds and NFTs.