Japan’s SBI to Start New Exchange for Major Cryptocurrencies

Japanese SBI Holdings has updated its plans for its crypto exchange, reports have revealed. The firm has set a new launch date, and according to reports, it’s planning to list major digital currencies. The group’s Chief Executive Officer expects that the new crypto exchange will be number one within a very short time after its launching.

Revised Launch Date

Previously SBI Holding had planned to launch the crypto exchange SBI Virtual Currencies “in the autumn of last year, 2017 or at latest, early 2018,” a local publication, Minkabu, recalled. The plan, however, was put off following the hacking of Coincheck, some trouble with its capital as well as issues with its business agreement with another Chinese company, Huobi Group. Even though the firm had been granted a license from Japan’s top financial watchdog, the FSA (Financial Services Agency) in September 2017, these circumstances led the firm to refrain from launching the crypto exchange.

At one press conference earlier this week, Yoshitaka Kitao, SBI Holdings’ President, and CEO said that the firm is planning to formally start the cryptocurrency trading platform in the summer. Local news outlets reported that the “crypto exchange will not be any other exchange’s white label, but a self-developed” exchange. Business Insider Japan revealed that, however, since 30th January, SBI Virtual Currencies has been offering limited services to a small number of customers.

As for which virtual currencies will be supported by the exchange when it fully launches, the CEO said that “it’s assumed to be the major cryptocurrencies, including BTC (bitcoin), BCH (bitcoin cash), ETH (ethereum), and XRP (ripple),” Minkabu conveyed.

Expecting a Fast Rising to the Top

SBI Holdings has carefully been considering the best time to launch the exchange fully based on various factors including Coincheck’s hacking and the resultant changes in the crypto business environment, especially in Japan. Minkabu quoted Yoshitaka Kitao saying, “When we’ll do it, it is going to become number one so quickly, within the blink of an eye; so even if we have a large number of clients coming in, we will build a system which can bear that workload.”

One of the factors that will make SBI Virtual Currencies different from other exchanges is that “we’ll set the spreads to the industry’s minimum,” Kitao explained. He says he’s confident that doing this will propel the exchange to be the leader in the industry. “With the SBIFX trading spreads of the company’s FX firm is currently at the narrowest level in the industry, this outcome can be expected,” the local publication, Minkabu, commented.

SBI Holdings already owns a security brokerage (one of the biggest) in Japan. The daily pointed out that “there are up to 8.5 million financial affiliates (like SBI Securities Company Limited) accounts.” The CEO emphasized the necessity of building trust within the cryptocurrency community and industry. To that effect, Kitao assumed office as the director of the recently formed Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association, a self-regulating organization. The association was established by a total of 16 cryptocurrency exchanges that have been approved and fully licensed by the FSA.