OKEx, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan, on Thursday announced opening an office in Malta and making it a “foundation for further OKEx growth.”
OKEx Is Expanding To Malta Given Country’s Comprehensive Blockchain Initiatives.
— OKEx (@OKEx_)
is a world-leading digital asset exchange, providing advanced financial services to global traders by using blockchain technology. Founded in 2014, the exchange has gained millions of dollars worth of investments from leading enterprises such as VenturesLab, Ceyuan Ventures, Giant Network Group, Longling Capital, Qianhe Capital Management, eLong Inc.
OKEx provides hundreds of token & futures trading pairs to help traders to optimize their strategy. Its BTC futures trade has nearly $1.5B of volume daily, and is widely recognized as the gold standard for the industry.
OKEx is proud to announce its expanding. According to , the exchange looks forward to joining and growing the Malta Blockchain community, including participating in Malta’s Government sponsored DLT Delta Conference in October, 2018.
Chris Lee, OKEx CEO, states: “We look forward to working with the Malta government as it is forward thinking and shares many of our same values: the most important of which are protection of traders and the general public, compliance with Anti Money Laundering and Know Your Customer standards, and recognition of the innovation and importance of continued development in the Blockchain ecosystem.”
Tim Byun, Chief Risk Officer, believes that Malta is a strong strategic partner in an industry dominated by new emerging technology. “Malta’s Virtual Financial Asset Act is a solid foundation for the industry and the government to work together in fostering the nascent blockchain/digital asset industry. More specifically, Malta’s sound risk-based approach will help cultivate a responsible, compliant, and healthy ecosystem,” Byun said.
OKEx announcement follows that of Binance, the world’s largest exchange by trade volume, which earlier that they were planning to establish its office in Malta, after receiving a warning from Japanese regulators. Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat personally welcomed the company to the region.
One more cryptocurrency exchange that is going to change its current jurisdiction is Bitfinex which considers Switzerland as the most probable variant for it and to Zug.
As for Malta, it has begun moving in a crypto-friendly destination. Under the motto “Blockchain Island”, the authorities released a document entitled “Malta – A leader in DLT Regulation,” which presented a conceptual framework for DLT technologies to become certified in Malta.
The country has also signed up with 21 other EU member states in the . Joseph Muscat is optimistic about blockchain, saying the government needs to enter “uncharted waters” to attract this niche sector of the economy. “Fintech, blockchain and virtual currencies will be the base of the new economy in a few years,” he said.
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A total of nine cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan have suspended their operations so far. This includes the latest two, one of which was sanctioned by the Japanese financial regulator on Wednesday while the other voluntarily withdrew its license application.
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Blue Dream Japan
The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) issued a business improvement and suspension order to Blue Dream Japan Co. Ltd on Wednesday after an on-site inspection was carried out. The company must halt all activities related to its crypto exchange business from April 11 to June 10.
Following the FSA’s order, Blue Dream Japan issued a statement, “We will solemnly accept the business suspension order and business improvement order,” adding that they “promise to seriously respond, [and] we will do our utmost to resume our service.” Furthermore, the company wrote:
We hope to continue [our] virtual currency exchange business in the future after conducting thorough compliance with laws and regulations and improving the management system so that we can provide services that users can use with confidence.
Campfire’s Firex
Another company has also announced the withdrawal of its application with the FSA to operate a crypto exchange. Campfire, a leading crowdfunding site in Japan, operates the cryptocurrency exchange Firex, which was launched in March of last year.
The company has voluntarily suspended its crypto exchange services. “We aimed to fully renew [our] exchange system,” Campfire wrote and elaborated:
We have been preparing to register the virtual currency exchange…However, in order to build a perfect service system in terms of customer asset protection and convenience, we decided that [a] further review of the plan is necessary.
9 Exchanges Suspended Operations So Far
Prior to the hack of one of the country’s largest crypto exchanges, Coincheck, Japan had 16 licensed crypto exchanges and 16 “quasi-operators” of cryptocurrencies, also called “deemed dealers.” These are companies that have applied for licenses but have not been approved. Both Blue Dream Japan and Campfire fall into this category.
Coincheck was the first company to be sanctioned by the FSA since the Japanese Payment Services Act went into effect in April of last year. Following a business improvement order on January 29, the agency launched an on-site inspection of the exchange and subsequently proceeded to inspect all other exchanges as well. All quasi-operators received on-site inspections.
On March 8, the FSA issued to six companies. Four of them were quasi-operators – Mister Exchange, Bitcrements, Bit Station, and FSHO. The other two were fully licensed – Tech Bureau and .
Then on April 6, the agency issued to three exchanges – Lastroots, Eternal Links, and another to FSHO. The latter two were also ordered to suspend operations – Eternal Links from April 6 to June 5 and FSHO from April 8 to June 7. The latest company to receive a business suspension order is the aforementioned Blue Dream Japan.
In addition, a total of six crypto exchanges are reportedly their applications following the inspections by the FSA – Tokyo Gateway, Mr. Exchange, Raimu, Bitexpress, Bit Station, and now Campfire.
What do you think of Japanese exchanges suspending operations? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Blue Dream Japan, Campfire, and Nikkei.
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