Japanese crypto exchanges aim to catch up with coin listings: Report

Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges are reportedly moving to increase competition with foreign crypto trading platforms by planning to simplify the process of listing new cryptocurrencies.

The Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulatory body of 31 local crypto exchanges, is preparing to release a “green list” of 18 widely-accepted cryptocurrencies in late March, local news agency Nikkei reported on Tuesday.

The green list aims to spare Japanese crypto exchanges from having to screen cryptocurrencies with the JVCEA each time before listing coins on their trading platforms. The digital assets included in the green list will no longer be subject to screening, the JVCEA reportedly said in an online presentation.

The upcoming green list will feature some of the most-traded cryptocurrencies in Japan, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP and Litecoin (LTC). According to the report, the conditions for being added to the green list include being listed on three exchanges in Japan, with at least one trading platform having to list that digital asset for at least six months.

The JVCEA’s latest initiative aims to provide crypto investors with more options to trade on regulated Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges. “Some industry executives said sophisticated traders have flocked to exchanges that do not have a license in Japan, such as Binance, partly due to the lack of options,” the report said.

According to the latest official list of traded coins on Binance, the crypto exchange supports more than 80 cryptocurrencies as of mid-March 2022. Coinbase, the United States’ largest crypto exchange that officially launched operations in Japan last year, has listed about 160 cryptocurrencies so far, according to its official website.

In contrast, Japanese crypto exchanges have collectively listed only about 40 cryptocurrencies so far, according to Nikkei. GMO Coin crypto exchange is the largest Japanese crypto exchange in terms of supported coins, handling 20 cryptocurrencies, a JVCEA official reportedly said.

BitFlyer, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Japan, was trading only five cryptocurrencies as of Tuesday morning, according to data from CoinGecko.

Related: Japanese government considers relaxing strict coin listing rules

As previously reported, the JVCEA was established back in March 2018 as a self-regulatory body following a series of hacking incidents that triggered intense scrutiny from regulators.

In February, the JVCEA complained that Japan’s strict screening rules were significantly impeding the $1 trillion Japanese crypto industry from growing.