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Huobi, SBI Group To Launch Two Japanese Exchanges In ‘Early 2018’

Wilma Woo | Dec 07, 2017 | 07:00

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Chinese exchange Huobi has announced it is launching two cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan in conjunction with the SBI Group.

Huobi And SBI’s ‘In-Depth Cooperation’

Huobi, since China’s fiat exchange, ban has been actively looking to expand its international activities. It has now announced that it will develop “digital assets and financial services in Asia” via the partnership with the SBI Group.

An accompanying press release from Thursday explains:

According to the diversified needs of cryptocurrency investors, Huobi and SBI will conduct in-depth cooperation in areas such as capital and business.

In addition to setting up two subsidiaries, Huobi and SBI will flexibly mobilize technologies, knowledge, and personnel to jointly develop digital asset-related businesses in Japan and the rest of Asia through mutual complementarity and strength.

The two cryptocurrency exchange entities, SBI Virtual Currencies and Huobi Japan, will further diversify the country’s rapidly expanding exchange scene when they launch early next year.

Bitcoin-Friendly Japan Outshines Neighbors

Japan’s licensing structure has seen dozens of applicants come forward, with consumers now able to choose from countless options for trading cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin and Ether.

Capitalizing on the market growth, Huobi notes in the release, SBI is aiming to create a “new financial ecosystem based on cryptocurrency.”

The exchange adds:

The cooperation between the two parties will be a milestone for the development of the digital asset industry in Asia and the world.

A regulatory schism is meanwhile carving a growing gap between Japan and its neighbors regarding cryptocurrency, with both China and, more recently, South Korea taking a hard-line attitude towards how citizens can legally interact with it.

A package of regulatory announcements from Korea’s Financial Services Commission this week served to ban Bitcoin futures trading, something which Japan conversely has said it will launch “as soon as possible” once relevant amendments are made to securities laws.

“An entry of new technology into Korea is hamstrung by the regulation,” Kim Jin-Hwa, former CEO of major Korean exchange Korbit, commented to a local news outlet following the move.

What do you think about Huobi and SBI’s partnership? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Pixabay, PxHere, and Bitcoinist archives.