FTX Enters Japanese Crypto Market With Acquisition of Regulated Crypto Exchange

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced the acquisition of Liquid, which operates a regulated Japanese exchange, Quoine. The two companies “expect to work together to provide products and liquidity to clients in the Japanese and global markets.”

FTX Acquiring Liquid to Provide Services to Japanese Customers

Crypto exchange FTX is entering the Japanese crypto market. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted Wednesday:

FTX is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Liquid group of companies, including an FSA-registered crypto-asset exchange to provide products and services to our customers in Japan.

Liquid independently tweeted Wednesday: “Liquid Group and all of its operating subsidiaries are being acquired by FTX Trading Ltd.”

Liquid operates Quoine, a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan that is licensed by the Financial Service Agency (FSA), the country’s top financial regulator.

Quoine, founded in 2014, was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan to be registered by the FSA in 2017. The Japanese exchange was granted a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business registration by the FSA in October last year. The exchange also offers derivatives trading.

FTX recently raised $400 million and achieved a valuation of $32 billion. “This round will support our continued mission of delivering innovative products and services to the marketplace as well as expanding our global reach with additional licenses around the world,” Bankman-Fried told Bitcoin.com News.

Liquid detailed that it and FTX “expect to work together to provide products and liquidity to clients in the Japanese and global markets,” elaborating:

Following FTX’s acquisition of Liquid, Quoine will gradually integrate FTX’s products and services into its own offering, and FTX’s existing Japanese customers will be migrated to Quoine’s platform.

The FTX website currently states that the exchange does not onboard any users from Japan and “Registrations are prohibited from Japan.” In addition, “FTX Digital Markets Ltd. does not currently facilitate users who are from Japan.”

The acquisition is expected to close in March, subject to customary closing conditions being satisfied, Liquid said.

What do you think about FTX acquiring a regulated Japanese crypto exchange? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.