A month after the Bitcoin fork led to the emergence of Bitcoin Cash, GMO Coin embraces the new virtual currency and enables BCH withdrawals.

GMO Coin, the virtual currency business of GMO Internet Inc. (TYO:9449), is welcoming Bitcoin Cash, the new crypto currency that emerged after the “Bitcoin Fork” on August 1, 2017. The company has announced that it starts providing Bitcoin Cash (BCH) withdrawals from today.

Users are advised to take certain limits into account, as well as to note that the company still has no plans with regard to offering of BCH trading.

The Bitcoin fork has had no detrimental impact on the Bitcoin market. However, this event has apparently influenced the decision-making process of the Japanese regulators. Companies seeking to secure licenses from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) are faced with long waiting periods. Mike Kayamori, head of Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Quoine, said his company had filed its application for registration but the assessment process seemed to be taking longer than expected. Mr Kayamori blamed the delay on recent developments, including the Bitcoin split in early August.

At the same time, the blockchain technologies related to crypto currencies are enjoying growing interest from both businesses, public institutions and state authorities. GMO Internet has been riding this wave. On Thursday, GMO Internet announced the launch of the third phase of the GMO Blockchain Open Source Software project, introducing its new Region Token. The open source Region Token is a program whereby municipalities and companies can issue their own tokens (points).

Without the need to build a dedicated server for managing tokens and employing an administrator, it is possible to issue tokens and register shops as point service participants on the blockchain. The use of such a token is seen as a means for regional revitalization.

The Region Token is a token program which runs on the Ethereum platform. By using this program, municipalities and enterprises can easily issue and operate tokens that act as points that can be used within merchant’s affiliated stores.