According to a report by Nikkei Asian Review, Yahoo Japan has put in an application to acquire 40 percent of BitARG Exchange Tokyo, and are expecting to launch a new exchange in 2019. BitARG already has a license from the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) to operate a trading platform in the country.

Though the story has circulated throughout the cryptocurrency news cycle, largely citing the Nikkei report, Bit-Argo Exchange Representative Director Yoon Hee Yuan released a statement explaining that the company is still “studying various possibilities, including investments and partnerships with other companies” and has not made any final decisions regarding the partnership.

Though a very desirable location for new projects, Japan has recently stepped up enforcement in the cryptocurrency space, following the enormous $500 million Coincheck hack. On Monday, the Japanese FSA threatened to shut down Binance for not obtaining a license to operate in Japan.

Founded as a joint venture between Altaba and Softbank, Yahoo Japan is the dominant search engine and most visited site in Japan. If Yahoo Japan successfully acquires part of BitARG, employees of Tokyo’s YJFX (a Yahoo subsidiary that deals with foreign exchange transaction services) will move over to BitARG to develop the new exchange.