China ICO Ban Sparks Startups’ Exodus to Japan for Token Listings
Japan’s biggest bitcoin exchange Coincheck has been receiving “hundreds of requests” from Chinese startups to list their tokens following China’s blanket ICO ban.
Tokyo-based Coincheck, Japan’s largest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, is being inundated with requests from Chinese companies for token listings on its exchange. Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, are a radical new form of fundraising wherein companies sell crypto tokens to investors in exchange for capital via cryptocurrencies, typically bitcoin or ethereum’s ether.
Speaking to Chinese publication Global Times , Coincheck’s head of international business development Kagayaki Kawabata stated:
We are receiving hundreds of requests from Chinese startups and startups around the world asking us to list their tokens after the Chinese government banned ICOs.
As reported by CCN.com in early September, China issued a ban on all ICOs after deeming them an illegal form of fundraising. South Korea followed China’s example in issuing a similar sweeping ban on all ICO-related activity in the country. On the same day, Japan’s financial regulator granted licenses for 11 bitcoin exchanges to operate in the country, where bitcoin is recognized as legal tender.
Japan’s regulated climate is far friendlier for bitcoin and cryptocurrency startups, Kawabata claimed.
The Japanese bitcoin executive added:
If Chinese tokens can meet the criteria that exchanges will set, Japan will be a great place to list tokens.
Coincheck’s chief executive separately added that the exchange is scrutinizing the new flurry of requests while being ‘very careful’ about accepting them. “Thorough due diligence is essential to make sure if the ICO is reliable,” he added while revealing that the exchange is working on a clear set of guidelines and criteria for listing new tokens on its exchange.
Data from Cryptocompare shows Japanese markets overseeing nearly 60% of the global bitcoin trading, demonstrating the emergence and establishment of Japan as a major bitcoin hub.
According to BraveNewCoin, Coincheck’s trading platform processed nearly half of all bitcoin trades in Japan over a 24-hour period.
Chinese lanterns image from Shutterstock.
