Japan Green Lights 2nd Crypto Exchange for April Launch as Data Shows Huge Interest

Japanese financial regulators approved a second cryptocurrency exchange to begin operations this week, a press release from local exchange DeCurret, the applicant, confirmed on March 25.

DeCurret, which joins an offering from e-commerce giant Rakuten in launching on the domestic market, will begin trading on April 16.

Together with Rakuten Wallet, previously known as Everybody’s Bitcoin, next month will mark the debut of new-to-market Japanese exchanges approved under new licensing laws.

“With the concept of ‘connecting and exchanging all values and making transactions simple,’ DeCurret aims to become ‘a major financial servicer for digital currency’ that sets standard [sic] for secured and convenient digital currency transaction,” DeCurret summarized in the press release.

The news coincides with statistics shared with cryptocurrency-focused news and data resource Bitcoin.com by Japan’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), which show the true extent of interest in the expanding market.

According to the data, over 140 entities have approached the FSA regarding approval of an exchange since March 2018. Of those, 23 have submitted documentation to initiate the process, which is actively underway with a total of seven applicants.

Rakuten and DeCurret represent the only two to have gained formal registration and approval from regulators to launch.

As Cointelegraph reported, the coming year should see that number increase significantly. Among those eyeing a piece of the industry is Yahoo! Japan, which earlier this week said it hoped to launch its part-owned exchange in May.

2019 has also seen licenses handed to extant operators, including Huobi in January and previously-hacked domestic platform Coincheck late last year.