Japan’s top financial watchdog has reportedly granted a license to a crypto exchange that is being launched by Rakuten.

Rakuten is an E-commerce giant that you’ve probably seen on Barcelona jerseys, if you follow Spanish soccer. That partnership with FC Barcelona has propelled them to heights never once thought possible. Japan’s financial watchdog, the FSA (Financial Service Agency) announced the news on Monday march 25.

The FSA stated that new exchange Rakuten Wallet; is now registered with the Kanto Local Financial Bureau as a virtual currency exchange service provider under the country’s Payment service act. Rakuten also went on to confirm the news in a separate statement.

Rakuten wallet will be replacing “Everybody’s Bitcoin Inc. an exchange that Rakuten had acquired last August for $2.4 million. Rakuten wallet is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rakuten, that came into being after the firm rebranded the exchange offering on the 1st of march this year.

Rakuten also revealed that it would be closing the curtains on the older service at end of this month, adding that users can begin signing up for the new service-Rakuten wallet- as from next month.

Rakuten also said that previous service- Everybody’s Bitcoin- had been operating as a deemed crypto exchange provider since its launch 2 years ago when the firm applied for a license at the time.

Rakuten were in receipt of a business improvement order from the Kanto bureau last spring and has “officially restructured” its management system and upgraded internal systems inorder to receive the license for the newly launched entity.

The FSA has also reportedly issued a license to another exchange called Decurret, which says it will provide spot trading for four cryptos beginning April 16 in Japan; with new accounts opening as from March 27. Decurret obviously caught the eye of the FSA for having quite a high power team of shareholders who include; MUFG bank, internet initiative Japan, Nomura holdings, Dai-ichi Life insurance Company, Daiwa securities Group, among others.

The FSA is also known to have granted license to Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, after the exchange suffered a $530 million hack in early 2018. These approvals now see the number of licensed crypto exchanges in the jurisdiction rise to 19, according to the FSA announcement.

Japan has been quite supportive of crypto-currencies as a jurisdiction and is part of the reason why Asia is the main player in the crypto industry. Definitely part of the reason why Asia is able to influence and move the crypto markets the way they do.

Image courtesy of Datantify