Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings formally launched the world’s first bank-backed cryptocurrency exchange, VCTRADE. The exchange that exclusively supports only three cryptocurrencies- Bitcoin (BTC), XRP and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), is now officially open to the general public after almost two years of its announcement.
Although the trade completed its registration and obtained a license from Japan’s financial regulator, Financial Services Agency (FSA) in September 2017, the launch got postponed. The decision to delay its launch was taken in the wake of the infamous hack of Coincheck amounting to $530 million. In the aftermath of this hack, VCTRADE decided first to enhance its security features.
SBI cryptocurrency exchange is the only bank-backed crypto trade platform that is opening accounts for residents of Japan between the age group of 20 to 70 years. According to reports, the trading service was initially only available to a group of 20,000 selected users who pre-registered on the platform last October. However, corporate customers are still excluded and will not be accepted as the announcement explicitly mentions that they cannot avail the registration services.
Last September CEO and founder of SBI Yoshitaka Kitao had announced, “when we do it, it will be number one in the blink of an eye so quickly, so even if a tremendous number of customers come, we can build a system that can bear. We have to pursue safety thoroughly.”
Cryptbuzz reported, during the launch, Kitao said, “while having the registration as a cryptocurrency exchange and trading business completed in September 2017, SBI Virtual Currencies has been preparing for its service launch. In this regard, SBI Virtual Currencies will first start with providing the service to the limited over 20,000 users, who applied for advanced application in October 2017, with the password necessary for the transaction to be sequentially sent by mail. The general application for opening accounts is scheduled to start in July 2018. While initially covering Ripple (XRP) only, SBI Virtual Currencies will gradually expand its coverage to Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).” The cryptocurrency exchange will be powered by SECOM which is primarily known for engaging in business process outsourcing and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) businesses.
