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Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has approved Lastroots as a licensed cryptocurrency exchange, Bitcoin.com reported.
The FSA started approving cryptocurrency exchanges after the amended Fund Settlement Law and the amended Payment Services Act came into force in April 2017, legalizing cryptocurrencies as a means of payment and requiring exchange operators to register with the FSA.
The regulator has approved a total of 21 cryptocurrency exchanges to carry out operations in the country. Of these, 16 exchanges – Money Partners, Quoine, Bitflyer, Bitbank, SBI VC Trade, GMO Coin, Huobi Japan (formerly Bittrade), Btcbox, Bitpoint Japan, Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange, Tech Bureau, DMM Bitcoin, Taotao (formerly Bitarg), Bitgate, Xtheta, and Bitocean – received their license back in 2017 and the rest were approved this year.
Zaif, a crypto exchange previously operated by Tech Bureau, suffered a major hack in September 2018. This was followed by the exchange’s acquisition by Fisco in November. Bitcoin.com reported that Tech Bureau and Fisco are listed as two separate crypto exchanges on the FSA’s website.
This year, Coincheck, Rakuten Wallet (formerly Everybody’s Bitcoin), Decurret, Line Corp.’s LVC, and now Lastroots have successfully registered with the FSA.
Established in 2016, Lastroots is not only focused on cryptocurrency exchange business but also business development using blockchain technology. It launched its crypto exchange “c0ban” in March 2017 and had applied for registration with the FSA back in Sept. 2017 and has been operating as a “deemed virtual currency exchange company” – those crypto exchanges that were in business before Japan implemented crypto regulation.
“Our company has been operating as a “deemed virtual currency exchange” so far, but this time we have completed registration as a virtual currency exchange,” said LastRoots President and CEO Furuse Yasuhiro (via online translation). “As a financial institution, the Company places top priority on user protection, and has been working on thorough compliance and risk management as the most important management issues. Going forward, we will strive to build a business management system so that we can operate the cryptocurrency exchange that society expects more appropriately. "
