SBI Group Opens the World’s First Bank-Backed Crypto Exchange to the Public

sbi holding group japan

VCTRADE, the cryptocurrency exchange launched by Japanese financial Giants SBI Holdings has finally opened its services to the general public. The bank made the announcement on Tuesday, one month after the exchange was officially launched.

The cryptocurrency exchange services will be open to residents of Japan aged between 20 and 70 years, according to the announcement. This service does not currently include cooperate memberships.

Before its actual take off, the exchange has experienced some delays September 2017, when it registered with Japan’s Financial Service Agency (FSA) as a virtual currency exchange business. The formal launch which was planned for December 2017 was subsequently postponed and delayed even further. The delay has been attributed to internal security upgrades following the cyber-attack on Japan-based Coincheck exchange in which $530 million worth of NEM [XEM] tokens were stolen.

At a press conference in April, Yoshitaka Kitao, executive chairman and president of SBI Holdings assured that the group was on track to start crypto exchange operations. This was followed one month later by a formal launch and select group of people who pre-registered in October last was given access to the platform.

The exchange currently handles Ripple [XRP], Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Bitcoin [BTC], as well as trading pair with the Japanese Yen. Kitao’s message in May indicates that the exchange is also interested in listing Ether [ETH] in its early stages.

SBI, short for Strategic Business Innovation, has strong ties with Ripple which it has promoted through the SBI-Ripple Asia initiative for cross-border payments in Asia. It was no surprise that SBI Virtual Currency started with XRP trading pairs before BCH and BTC were added on June 8 and 15 respectively.

Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.

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