Temasek-backed cryptocurrency exchange FTX launches in Japan

Customers in Japan can now use FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in the Bahamas.

Quoine Corporation, which was acquired by FTX earlier this year and renamed FTX Japan, will handle the company’s activities in the country. The company is currently licensed to provide cryptocurrency exchange services and operates as a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business.

According to Bankman-Fried, Japan’s “highly controlled industry” for crypto trading has a $1 trillion potential, and his company will now be able to service the domestic market in both permanent and spot trading.

He added that the acquisition provides them with a technology advantage as well as the ability to deal directly with Japanese regulators.

Bankman-Fried is the interim CEO of FTX Japan.

FTX Japan, according to Bankman-Fried, will continue to revolutionize the Japanese digital asset ecosystem.

FTX bought Japan-based fintech business Liquid Group and its subsidiaries in February, gaining access to the company’s Type 1 Financial Instruments Business license.

The exchange’s US branch purchased cryptocurrency derivatives platform LedgerX last year in order to obtain Ledger’s license to offer bitcoin fractional derivatives contracts.

In 2020, the exchange bought Blockfolio, mobile news, and portfolio tracking app, and renamed it FTX a year later.

FTX raised $400 million in a Series C round of fundraising in January to expand its services and acquisitions into international markets, allowing it to take up licenses from domestic corporations.

The company’s most recent acquisition allowed it to take advantage of Liquid’s existing licensing as a crypto asset exchange services provider, which was critical to the company’s expansion in the country.

Founded in 2018, FTX is a cryptocurrency and other asset trading platform that includes prediction markets, options, and volatility products.

Temasek, Sequoia Capital, and Sea Group investment arm Sea Capital, among others, contributed US$420 million to the company in October 2021.

The corporation was valued at $25 billion in the acquisition.