Binance, which claims to be the world’s “leading” blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, announced it has “acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), the Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider.”
Through this acquisition, Binance enters “the Japanese market, as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity.”
The terms of the transaction were “not disclosed.” By offering Japanese-regulated services through SEBC, Binance aims “to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies.”
Binance has “secured regulatory approvals or authorizations in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania and Cyprus. The acquisition of SEBC marks Binance’s first license in East Asia.”
Takeshi Chino, general manager of Binance Japan, said:
“The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption. As one of the world’s leading economies with a highly-developed tech ecosystem, it’s already poised for strong blockchain uptake. We will actively work with regulators to develop our combined exchange in a compliant way for local users. We are eager to help Japan take a leading role in crypto.”
SEBC is a JFSA-registered crypto exchange that “offers its customers consultation services in addition to its brokerage service.” The Tokyo-based exchange currently “supports 11 trading pairs: BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY, XEM/JPY, MONA/JPY, ADA/JPY, XYM/JPY, and COT/JPY.”
Hitomi Yamamoto, CEO of SEBC, said:
“We are honored and delighted to make this announcement with Binance, one of the world’s leading crypto asset exchange service providers. On top of our effort to prioritize user protection, Binance’s strong compliance system will contribute to building a more compliant atmosphere for users in Japan and help them access key crypto services needed for mass adoption in the future.”
As covered recently, Binance‘s management has answered a few follow-up questions from the community about “how funds and wallets are managed at Binance.”
Binance explains that it “holds all of its clients’ crypto-assets in segregated accounts which are identified separately from any accounts used to hold crypto-assets belonging to Binance.”
Binance uses Binance’s own wallet infrastructure “to safeguard user assets and Binance’s own assets.”
First, it’s important to understand “how wallets work in Binance.” There “are deposit wallets, one (or more) address per user per blockchain.” You deposit “to your deposit address.” Their system “monitors the blockchain and adds that balance to your account on Binance.com.”
Once verified on chain, “you can trade or spend those coins on Binance as you deem fit.” Those coins “may or may not move from that address right away.” Binance periodically “sweeps” those coins “into a hot (or cold) wallet.”
