- Binance has acquired the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin.
- For the first time since 2018, the exchange has a business presence in Japan thanks to the acquisition.
- The deal coincides with Japan’s plans to foster a more crypto-friendly environment.
Binance, led by Changpeng Zhao, has been expanding globally despite the bear market of 2022. It recently acquired the trading platform Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) for an undisclosed amount.
The news broke not long after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced his government’s intention to create crypto-friendly policies and encourage the expansion of Japan’s digital asset ecosystem.
Binance announced the acquisition on Wednesday, marking the company’s first license in East Asia and its 12th globally. Binance has received authorization from regulatory bodies in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus.
SEBC started up in 2017, but it wasn’t until last month that the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA) gave it a license to operate. There are currently 11 supported trading pairs: BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY, XEM/JPY, MONA/JPY, ADA/JPY, XYM/JPY, and COT/JPY.