Rakuten Acquires Everybody’s Bitcoin Exchange for $2.4 Million

Rakuten SecuritiesJapanese online empire Rakuten, parent company of Rakuten Securities, has acquired cryptocurrency exchange Everybody’s Bitcoin through its subsidiary Rakuten Card. The deal, valued at 265 million yen, or $2.4 million, is set to go through on October 1, 2018.

The acquisition comes as a response to growing demand from Rakuten Securities customers, particularly foreign exchange traders, who have been calling for a cryptocurrency exchange service.

Rakuten has leading businesses in credit cards, banking, securities, insurance, and electronic money. Its recently established Rakuten Blockchain Lab, based in Belfast, UK, has initiated the group’s role in the blockchain ecosystem resulting in cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments.

“In order to provide cryptocurrency payment methods smoothly, we believe it is necessary for us to provide a cryptocurrency exchange function, and have been considering entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry as the Rakuten Group”, the company explained.

The Everybody’s
Bitcoin exchange is operating since March 30, 2017, and is waiting for license approval from the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. which has recently issued additional requirements regarding the establishment of management control systems, an action plan to control money laundering and funding of terrorism, and action on book management systems, user protection measures, system risk control, and the management of outsourcing of business operations.

“Rakuten Group decided to acquire everybody’s bitcoin shares so that it can realize the early registration as a cryptocurrency exchange and develop cryptocurrency services to customers by combining the know-how of everybody’s bitcoin as a cryptocurrency exchange, and the know-how of Rakuten Group as a provider of various financial services”, the statement said.

bitcoinEarlier in 2018, Rakuten announced the launch of its very own cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin, which would become the native currency of the Group’s messaging platform Viber and its community loyalty program. A wide number of Rakuten’s online businesses have been accepting Bitcoin payments on its logistics and shopping portals since 2014.

Bitcoin et al. are particularly popular in Japan, where the cryptocurrency ecosystem is most established. As virtual currencies grow into the mainstream, more and more established companies within the trading industry enter the market. In April 2018, Yahoo! Japan purchased a 40% stake in BitARG Exchange and Monex acquired Coincheck.