Hot on the heels of their Coincheck acquisition, Monex has stated that Japanese exchanges need to have tougher regulations in place.
Japan has long been known for being a crypto-friendly country. In fact, they saw phenomenal numbers last year when $97 billion was traded in just one month. In addition, reports for the 20th of April show that Yen-based Bitcoin trades made up more than 50% of global trades over a 24-hour period.
As regulation efforts increase all around the world, Japan has also shown their support by presenting guidelines on ICOs. However, according to Reuters, online brokerage Monex Group Inc believes that the country can do more with regard to crypto exchange regulations.
Exchanges Should Be More like Banks
The group made headlines recently after acquiring Coincheck. The Japanese exchange suffered a massive hack in January this year, losing approximately $530 million worth of crypto. After the purchase, Monex’s CEO, Oki Matsumoto, had this to say:
“Japan’s exchanges do both matching and custodial services – they’re close to a bank. To someone in the financial industry like myself, it’s common sense that regulations will get stricter.”
Post Coincheck hack, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) did indeed introduce tighter regulations for exchanges. These included developing and implementing improved data security measures. However, these requests proved too much for some Japanese-based exchanges and they subsequently ceased operating in the country.
Coincheck Purchase by Monex a Gamble
After Coincheck received a much-needed cash injection from Monex, the financial group is now in a position to be a part of the fast-growing crypto industry, an industry which Matsumoto is familiar with as he mines crypto and even had an account with Coincheck.
He has stated that he believes that other well-established companies would not have been so ready to purchase the ailing exchange:
“I don’t think there would have been many firms ready to do so. It’s an issue for management.”
Crypto Gaining Mainstream Interest
In a show of just how popular the crypto industry is rapidly becoming, Monex shares rose by a substantial 66% after they announced a possible Coincheck acquisition. This is the highest they’ve been in about 10 years.
Monex isn’t the only financial company interested in entering the crypto market. Their rival, SBI Holdings Inc, has a license to open their own exchange, but has taken no steps to do so just yet. Yahoo! Japan Corp has also shown interest in the industry by announcing plans to buy a minority stake in Tokyo-based exchange, BitARG.
Do you think that Japan should have stricter rules for exchanges? Should they be run like banks with regard to the regulation controls? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Pixabay, Nikkei