Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges have seen new account openings increase up to 200% in the past two months, Cointelegraph Japan reported on May 22. Data obtained from three major trading platforms — Bitpoint, DMM Bitcoin and Coincheck — pointed to a significant increase in interest from entry-level investors since the end of March. The change in habits among those who assumedly did not use cryptocurrency before highlights the impact of rising prices on consumer interest, which rose in step with the return of a bull market across the industry. Daily account openings for Bitpoint were three times as high in May …

The shutdown of Coinnest on April 18, one of the major crypto exchanges in South Korea, showcased the intense brutality of the 16-month bear market, which came crashing down as soon as bitcoin achieved an all-time high at a price of $20,000. While not many major crypto exchanges have closed their operations in the past year, most exchanges — with the exception of some platforms considered to have real daily volumes by Bitwise Asset Management — have struggled to maintain a stable inflow of revenue. The bear market was particularly difficult for small exchanges that are known to strategically inflate …

Japanese online broker Monex Group is planning to start trading in their United States cryptocurrency exchange in July, CEO Oki Matsumoto said on April 25, according to Cointelegraph Japan. The spin-off, currently dubbed TradeStation Crypto, would serve semi-professional traders and seeks to shore up profitability for Monex’s cryptocurrency offerings. Reuters also noted today that Monex had a loss of over $15 million on its crypto operations in 2018. The figure, part of financial performance data released this week, stems from the loss-making Coincheck exchange that Monex acquired last April. Despite restructuring the platform and returning it to full regulated service, …

Online brokerage Monex Group Inc., owner of the hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, is considering adding crypto to its retail client offerings in a bid to become more competitive in the local brokerage market. The news was reported by Bloomberg on April 15. As previously reported, Monex acquired Coincheck in April 2018 in the wake of the exchange’s industry record breaking $532 million hack in January of that year. According to Bloomberg, Monex now sees its Coincheck involvement as potentially instrumental in restoring its erstwhile market dominance. Founded in 1999, Monex was reportedly once the country’s most popular online brokerage, …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has added its first two altcoins to its recently launched over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk, Cointelegraph Japan reported on April 15. Coincheck, which began operating its OTC service with Bitcoin (BTC) at the start of the month, now also offers Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP), the second and third largest cryptocurrencies by market cap respectively. OTC desks offer specialized services for large-volume traders, allowing them to save on fees and skirt what would otherwise be considerable hurdles purchasing or selling major crypto investments via standard methods. The feature has become popular among major exchanges worldwide, Cointelegraph previously …

Disclaimer: this article previously stated that Coincheck’s new product was aimed at institutional clients. It has been updated for accuracy. Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has launched a Bitcoin (BTC) over-the-counter trading desk for large-scale investors. Cointelegraph Japan reported the news on April 1. The Coincheck OTC trading desk will enable clients to directly trade large volumes of Bitcoin — starting from 50 BTC ($207,000 to press time) — between each other using a web interface hosted by Coincheck. Opening hours will be limited to weekdays 10:00-15:00 (JST) and overtime trading and use of the Coincheck app or API trading are …

The Japanese broker that acquired the hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck in April 2018 has announced major changes in its management structure. The news was revealed in a press release published on March 27. The current representative executive officer and president of Monex group, Oki Matsumoto, will now also be the representative director and chairman of Monex, as well as chairman of Coincheck. Per the announcement, within Monex, “diverse employees will be aggressively promoted to managerial positions.” The press release also reveals that three Coincheck executive directors will also serve as executive directors of Monex to enhance cooperation between group companies. …

Japanese online broker Monex Group — owner of previously hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck — released its financial report on Q3 for the 2019 fiscal year on Jan. 31. The report shows that the trading platform halved its losses in Q3, as compared with the preceding quarter. The results of the report cover the third quarter ending March 31, 2019. They indicate that Monex’s crypto asset segment — comprised of Coincheck, which was acquired by Monex in April 2018 — reported an overall loss of 300 million yen (~$2.76 million ). This nonetheless represents a two-fold improvement over the second quarter …

Japanese online broker Monex Group, owner of hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, warned of a new scam claiming to be related to its business in a news release on Jan. 28. The scam, about which only brief details have been released, involves potential victims receiving calls from an entity dubbed “Monex Coin Management.” They are then invited to call a form of automated trading system linked to Monex, the release states, something that does not exist in practice. “The Monex Group and (subsidiaries) do not have any relation with the above company,” it confirms. Such illicit activity remains commonplace for major …

Japan’s finance regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has granted full permission for cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck to continue operating in the country. Cointelegraph Japan reported on the development on Jan. 11, quoting an official communique. Coincheck, which was hacked in January 2018, losing altcoin tokens worth $530 million at the time, now joins the slowly increasing number of officially sanctioned exchanges serving the Japanese market. The step is a milestone for the exchange and for online broker Monex Group, which bought Coincheck for a nominal $33.5 million in April. According to a Jan. 11 press release from Monex Group, Coincheck …

Japan is known as a land of contrasts. A country where serenity and tranquillity can be found in the middle of the hustle and bustle of large global cities, where proud traditionalism stands side-by-side with the developers and innovators of breakthrough technologies, where kimonos are often found next to the latest fashion trends. This contradictory tendency is no different in Japan’s cryptocurrency ecosystem. It ranks as one of the top crypto-friendly nations on Earth, with favorable and forward-thinking cryptocurrency regulations. They made Bitcoin legal tender in 2017, and at one point, the Japanese yen dominated the buying and trading of …

Five more cryptocurrency exchanges have joined the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), according to an official announcement on Jan. 4 from the JVCEA. The JVCEA is a self-regulatory body formed in April by 16 registered crypto exchanges that aims to create industry-wide investor safety standards. In October, Japan’s financial regulator formally granted self-regulatory status to the JVCEA to oversee the crypto sector. The body, made in part as a response to the January 2018 $534 million hack of crypto exchange Coincheck, had released a set of regulatory guidelines in June, including a ban on insider trading and prohibition against …