Today, Coinbase announced that it is launching in Japan through a new partnership with one of the largest banks in the country, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) Financial Group. The partnership will allow 40 million MUFG account holders to quickly access and begin buying Bitcoin on Coinbase.
The head of Coinbase Japan, Nao Kitazawa commented, “We aim to reach out to a wide range of customers by offering low-hurdle services.”
Coinbase customers in Japan will have immediate access to Bitcoin buying through MUFG’s Quick Deposit platform. Notably, MUFG is an exclusive payment partner with Coinbase, meaning only account holders at MUFG will have access to Bitcoin through Coinbase in Japan, according to Kitazawa.
Coinbase will be in competition with 30 other companies registered to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Japan, according to Bloomberg.
MUFG and Coinbase collaborated in pursuit of Coinbase becoming the largest and most used exchange in Japan that is fully compliant with the country’s regulations.
Japan has one of the highest trading volumes of Bitcoin and crypto in the world, according to Coinbase. In the future MUFG and Coinbase intend to bring advanced trading services and institutional access to the platform.
An increasing number of institutions in Japan are becoming interested. Kitazawa commented, “Their questions have been getting more specific recently."
Coinbase Japan has a staff of around 30 people, and is looking to hire more according to Kitazawa, to cater to the institutional investors.