With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies around the world, Coinbase is launching an office in one of the crypto “heavens” nowadays – Japan.
Coinbase is currently present in more than 30 countries, and the company’s decision to expand to Japan is a serious strategic strike for Coinbase’s future plans to grow its client base and portfolio.
Following the heavy regulatory boom that many countries are experiencing on their “cryptocurrency” arenas, Japan and Coinbase will be working together to be fully compliant with new regulations coming. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) will be the one to work closely with Coinbase on the regulatory issues.
The rollout to Japan was actually in mind from two years ago, when Coinbase raised a $10-million round from Mitsubishi Financial Group (MUFG) and BMTU.
The new office will be headed by former investment banker at Morgan Stanley Japan, Nao Kitazawa, as CNN reported. Mr. Kitazawa has significant experience in investment banking and law, as well.
Japan is known to be very liberal when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It is one of the few countries where employees at large corporate firms can choose if they want their salary in yens or in Bitcoins. Since the spring of 2017, Japan has made Bitcoin an official payment method.