Binance Enters Japan With Acquisition of Regulated Crypto Exchange Sakura

Japan's financial services regulator was one of several that last year issued warnings saying Binance was not licensed to operate in its market.

AccessTimeIconNov 30, 2022 at 9:17 a.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 4:03 a.m. UTC

Binance has bought Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a Japanese crypto exchange regulated by the country's Financial Services Agency (FSA), for an undisclosed sum, according to a blog post Wednesday.

With the acquisition, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume enters the Japanese market, adding it to the now substantial list of countries in which it has some degree of regulatory authorization.

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  • Most recently, Binance received authorization as a crypto asset service provider in Cyprus, having previously won similar licenses in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kazakhstan. The FSA was one of several regulatory bodies that last year issued warnings that Binance was not licensed to operate in its market.

    Tokyo-based SEBC offers trading of the Japanese yen against 11 digital assets, including BTC, ETH, LTC and ADA.






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    Jamie Crawley

    Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.