Share this article
SBI Launches Japan's First Bank-Backed Crypto Exchange
Japanese banking giant SBI Holdings announced on Monday that its in-house cryptocurrency exchange is now live.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:00 a.m. Published Jun 4, 2018, 3:21 a.m.
Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings announced on Monday that its in-house cryptocurrency exchange is now live, after a months-long delay due to security concerns.
Called VCTRADE, the service is currently only open for users who have pre-registered with the platform in October 2017, the company said in the announcement and expects it to be available for a wider public in July of this year.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
In addition, SBI said as a first step, VCTRADE will focus on the trading of XRP, the native token derived from the Ripple protocol, after which the exchange will sequentially add supports for bitcoin and bitcoin cash, though an initial timeline for that remains unclear at this stage.
The decision is perhaps not entirely surprising given SBI Holdings' existing works in piloting the remittance technology provided by the San Francisco-based Ripple that uses a distributed ledger to make cross-border transactions.
SBI Holdings first established its wholly-owned subsidiary - SBI Virtual Currencies - in October 2016 in a bid to launch the country's first crypto exchange that is fully backed by a major financial institution.
The platform later completed business registration with Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) in September 2017 but announced in February of this year that the opening would be delayed due to security concerns amid the Coincheck hack.
The new service also comes after SBI Virtual Currencies has canceled a partnership in March with crypto exchange Huobi that would use the latter's financial and technological resources to launch VCTRADE.
Japanese yen image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Bitcoin pushes above $90,000 as traders eye change in pattern
Particularly hard-hit in 2025's final sessions, crypto-related stocks are bouncing in this year's first trading day.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rose above $90,000 during U.S. trading hours on Friday.
- It's a notable change in trend, as crypto prices late in 2025 were typically on the defensive while American stocks traded.
- Strategy, Coinbase, Hut 8 and Galaxy Digital were among the crypto-related stocks seeing strong gains.
Top Stories
