Japani Securities giant Monex Group – the owner of the Coincheck crypto exchange – has suggested it may move to buy FTX Japan.
Location of Japanese branch of ftx has been in the air since its parent company FTX filed for bankruptcy last year. Strict Japanese laws governing the management of assets would have ensured that the Japanese platform was not directly exposed to FTX related fallout. However, the bankruptcy proceedings of FTX saw the wallet on FTX Japan frozen last year,
FTX Japan previously announced that it is working on a solution that will allow customers to withdraw crypto and fiat next month – via Liquid Exchange.
But Monex indicated it may make the move for FTX Japan. Bloomberg Japan Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto said it would be “better” if the Japanese crypto exchange sector was an “oligopoly”, rather than a “flood of exchanges” – as is currently the case.
The Monex chief declined to comment on whether his firm would file an official bid for FTX Japan, but said he was “naturally” interested in FTX Japan “in general terms”.
He further said it was “important” for the Monex affiliate to “become one of the select few in Japan”, but declined to comment further on the potential bid.
FTX Japan Under Threat – Will Coincheck Owners Bid?
A bankruptcy court in the United States last week granted FTX the right to sell its assets to pay off its creditors, paving the way for a full FTX Japan sale.
The court ruled that potential buyers must submit non-binding preliminary bids for FTX Japan by February 1st – and concrete bids for the platform must be filed by mid-March.
An M&A move from a domestic player is highly likely. The Japanese crypto exchange scene is populated almost exclusively by tech startups and large securities firms, such as Monex and its rival SBI.
Both have made rapid M&A moves in the past, with SBI snapping up the former Yahoo Japan-owned TaoTao crypto trading platform. in 2020,
Meanwhile, Monex has precedent in this regard. It purchased exchange Coincheck Exchange in 2018, the latter being the subject of a Crippling hack worth nearly $500 million, The company also has US-based crypto interests, and has Expresses desire to expand into new markets,
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