Coincheck Becomes First Japanese Crypto Exchange To Go Public on Nasdaq

Key Takeaways

• Coincheck becomes the first Japanese crypto exchange to go public on Nasdaq.
• It’s only the second crypto exchange after Coinbase to go public in the U.S.
• Coincheck went public via a $1.3 billion SPAC merger.

Coincheck Group, the parent company of Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, debuted on Nasdaq on Dec. 11, making it the first Japanese crypto firm to go public on an international exchange.

The company’s listing on the Nasdaq was made possible by a $1.3 billion special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV, Inc. The company’s shares started trading under the ticker symbol CNCK.

Coincheck Joins Coinbase as Second Public Crypto Exchange

Coincheck’s listing on Nasdaq made it the only crypto exchange after Coinbase to go public in the United States.

The crypto exchange has served Japanese customers since 2012, but suffered a major hack in 2018, which resulted in a loss of over $500 million in digital assets.

Japanese banking giant Monex acquired the exchange, paying roughly $33.5 million for the deal. The acquisition and restructuring helped the crypto platform to reimburse customers who lost funds due to the hack.

Coincheck has been Japan’s top-down decentralized cryptocurrency trading app for the past five years . It enables trading for well-known cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Oki Matsumoto, Representative Executive Officer and Chairman of Monex Group and Executive Chairman of Coincheck, said :

“Coincheck was created through the fusion of a robust business foundation built in Japan, combined with the strengths of the U.S. capital markets through the close collaboration of exceptional business and capital markets talent in Japan and the U.S.”

The public listing on the Nasdaq would offer greater exposure to a broader market and attract international investment for the crypto exchange.

Japan’s Crypto Dilemma

Japan was among the earliest nations to regulate crypto trading, making it a pro-crypto state well before the rest of the world warmed up to crypto. However, over the years, it turned to a conservative approach, shielding investors from most of the growing crypto investment products.

While its neighbors, like Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and several others, have shaped the regulation to attract more crypto investments, opening the gates for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as soon as the U.S. approved a dozen BTC and ETH ETFs, Japan, on the other hand, has denied investments in such crypto products.

The new prime minister has promised to build a pro-crypto environment in the country, and has also promoted the use of NFTs and Bitcoin. The government has already proposed easing the taxation burden and creating a dedicated crypto department focused on promoting Web3 and crypto use.