The well-known cryptocurrency exchange Binance will officially return to the Japanese crypto services market. It did this by purchasing 100% of the shares of Sakura Exchange BitCoin, a cryptocurrency service provider. With this deal, the company will resume the pace of global crypto exchange between the Japanese market and other markets after four years. Binance’s representatives are confident that this acquisition constitutes Binance’s first “license” to operate in East Asia. “Asia is a high-potential market, which, of course, is interesting for the company. We plan to expand into other regions within this geographical direction,” an insider told Cointelegraph. However, there needs to be more information about the exchange’s attempts to obtain an independent Japanese license to carry out activities. Japan is one of the first countries to decide to introduce regulation of trading in cryptocurrency assets. Though they were pioneers, local regulators have repeatedly loosened their policies to promote crypto startups and coin listings.
As you may know, Binance exchange had to stop its official operations in Japan in 2018. Due to the lack of a license, the company couldn’t continue operating. Binance received another warning from local regulators in 2021 after users from this region continued to use the exchange’s services. The exchange could not obtain a license independently and solved this issue by buying Sakura Exchange BitCoin.
Previously, Binance, in the same way, re-entered (legally) the market of Malaysia, the UK, and Singapore. In the case of Singapore, the company acquired only 18% (!) of the regulated stock exchange. In the United Kingdom, Binance had to enter into a partnership with the local company Paysafe, which allowed it access to the British payment system.