This week in Japan, SBI Holdings’ president said to watch for central bank digital currencies, or CBDC, Coincheck exchange tallied top app downloads for exchanges is 2019, Japan’s central bank head forecasted CBDC demand, a Japanese political party proposed blockchain for document security, and a research institute unveiled a crypto index. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. President of Japanese financial services giant says CBDC is a big deal Yoshitaka Kitao, President of Tokyo-based financial services company SBI holding, called central bank digital currencies “the biggest thing to watch out for,” …

This week’s headlines from Japan include several central banks collaborating on digital currency research, Binance removing the Japanese yen from its platform, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party investigating digital assets, comments from Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister on digital currency research importance, and Coincheck paying out its first Lisk staking reward. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Japanese political party proposes digital currencies Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party aims to propose a national digital asset in spring of this year, according to some reports. A parliamentary group of 70 lawmakers will reportedly submit …

This week’s news from Japan included declining trading volume, statements from prominent figures on China’s pending digital currency, a Lisk staking announcement and a blockchain-based letter of credit. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Aso warns against digital Yuan Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Financial Minister Taro Aso urged people to be wary of the digital yuan, also known as the digital Renminbi RMB, noting the digital currency’s usage in international payments. He stated the situation as “a huge problem,” according to Reuters reporting. Future ADB president Asakawa …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has abruptly decided to cancel leveraged trading just months after relaunching the tool. In a blog post on Dec. 16, the platform said it had already stopped users from creating new leveraged positions. Coincheck: March deadline for settlement Traders with open positions must settle by Mar. 13, 2020, and balance transfers should complete by the end of the month. “Coincheck has decided to end the ‘leverage transaction’ service on Friday, March 13, 2020,” the blog post confirmed. Coincheck added: “If you have a current position, we would like to ask you to settle all positions by …

Six major Japanese brokerage firms such as SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities officially established Japan Security Token Offering (STO) Association. The four other members of the new association include Nomura Securities, Daiwa Securities, Kabu.com Securities and Japan’s financial giant Monex, who officially announced the news on Oct. 1. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan STO Association launches in order to support the development of STO fundraising by consolidating expertise in the industry, ensuring compliance with laws and protecting investors. Development of self-regulations Chaired by Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO and representative director of SBI Holdings and an exec at Ripple Labs, the general incorporated …

Japan’s financial giant Monex Group, owner of cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, will be granting Bitcoin (BTC) as a mid-term shareholder benefit in 2019. In addition to the existing shareholder benefits, the new dividends will be paid out to those who hold the company’s shares as of Sept. 30, 2019, as a mid-term shareholder benefit for the 2019 fiscal year, Monex Group announced in a press release on Sept. 24. Coincheck account holders For shareholders who hold Coincheck accounts, Monex Group will give the equivalent of 500 Japanese yen ($4.65) in Bitcoin, worth about 0.00055 BTC at press time. According to the …

Cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, a subsidiary of Japanese financial services firm Monex Group, partnered with marketing research company Macromill Group to launch the Coincheck Survey service that allows its users to exchange reward points for digital assets. Survey participants can earn Bitcoin According to Monex Group’s official press release published on Sept. 4, customers will be able to “exchange Macromill Points, which are offered as compensation for participating in surveys,” for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple’s XRP starting Sept. 10. The announcement states: “In partnership with Macromill, a leading marketing research company that offers marketing solutions best suited for clients, …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has announced it is reducing the scope of its leveraged trading options to comply with local rules. In a blog post on Aug. 30, officials said they were reducing the size of leverage available for margin traders from five times to four times. Coincheck plans Oct. 31 changes The move has come in direct response to best practices put forward by the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association — or JVCEA — the dedicated self-regulatory body for the Japanese exchange industry. The changes should take effect from Oct. 31, the blog post says, Coincheck urging traders to …

Major Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck is considering launching an initial exchange offering (IEO) platform for raising funds through utility tokens. The platform Acquired by Japanese financial services firm Monex Group in April 2018, Coincheck hinted at its plans to establish an IEO business in a recent public announcement, Cointelegraph Japan reported on Aug. 22. According to the report, Coincheck has started investigating fundraising opportunities based on utility tokens, claiming that IEOs are gaining more global attention and ensures more reliability as a method of securing funds. In a public statement, Coincheck said that it is targeting companies and projects that …

Online brokerage Monex Group Inc., owner of the hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, plans to join the Facebook Libra cryptocurrency project. A report from Cointelegraph Japan today, July 26, reveals that Monex Group's CEO Oki Matsumoto announced the company had filed an application to join the Libra Association during a press conference on Monex's Q2 2019 financial results earlier this week. The Libra Association is the newly-established, independent governance consortium for Facebook’s planned stablecoin, dubbed Libra, and is currently negotiating with a host of other potential members — including Visa, Uber, Mastercard and eBay. Entrance fees As Cointelegraph previously reported, …

The personal computers of employees at hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck have allegedly been found to have been infected by a virus associated with a hacker group of Russian origin. The allegation was reported by Cointelegraph Japan on June 16. As Cointelegraph has reported, in January 2018, Coincheck suffered an industry record-breaking hack when $534 million worth of NEM was stolen from its wallets. Cointelegraph Japan cites a report from Japanese media agency Asahi Shimbun, which claims that fresh research has cast doubt on prior assumptions that the high-profile hack had been perpetrated by attackers with a North Korean connection. …

On May 31, the Japanese House of Representatives amended two cryptocurrency-related laws, the Payment Services Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which will come into effect in April 2020. Most Japanese crypto exchanges have welcomed the changes, since they expect more institutional investors to join the crypto industry. However, others voiced their concerns that the changes may bring some uncertainty to custodians and wallet service providers. The two documents outline several specific changes, which can be discussed separately. The Payment Services Act (PSA) Virtual currency to crypto assets The new law revises the term “Virtual Currency” and says …