Coincheck Owner Sets Sights on US Expansion

Monex Group, the new owner of Japanese exchange platform Coincheck, says it hopes to attain an operating license from the regulatory Financial Services Agency (FSA) “next month” – and plans to expand its operations to the United States.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto states, “We can broaden our customer base at Coincheck. In the end, we should and we can replicate the profitability [the previous owners] achieved before.”

Matsumoto also claims that Japanese exchanges are carefully monitoring the decisions of American financial regulators, who are currently debating the issue of cryptocurrency and initial coin offering regulation. Matsumoto notes, “What the United States decides will have a huge impact on Japan.”

The Monex chief urged Japan to follow the West’s lead and provide clarification about the legal status of cryptocurrencies, adding, “Japan may seem like it’s one step ahead in crypto, but in terms of deciding what’s a security or a token and attracting institutional investors, America and Europe are moving ahead.”

Matsumoto first became interested in cryptocurrencies in 2013. In 2015, he opened a trading account at Coincheck, and later met Coincheck co-founder Koichiro Wada.

Wada later helped Matsumoto introduce a Bitcoin pay platform for customers at his own private company, a steak restaurant.

Coincheck was sold to Monex last month after the former was the victim of a massive hack in January this year.