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Japan’s BitFlyer Considers Acquisition to Strengthen The Firm

cryptoknowmics.com 18 November 2021 13:30, UTC

Japan's BitFlyer considers acquisition to strengthen the firm. By way of Bloomberg: Yuzo Kano, CEO of Japan's biggest Bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer Inc., says the company is exploring purchasing a smaller local or overseas competitor to expand its business.

According to the CEO, "We are looking at purchasing a little exchange since we are not extremely huge." He declined to identify any prospective targets during an interview on Thursday at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. "It might be in Japan or it could be in another nation."

It may be "very challenging" for Kano, who co-founded bitFlyer in 2014 and is targeting a 10 percent share of the cryptocurrency industry in the US, considering Coinbase Global Inc.'s dominance in the country.

BitFlyer Considering an Acquisition to Strengthen Firm

According to a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. derivatives trader, "BitFlyer is quite well known in Japan, but nobody in Europe or the United States" is aware of it. In Kano's estimation, there are now 3 million customers and $8 billion in assets on the exchange.

President Kuniyoshi Hayashi said in an interview in May that the Tokyo-based company aims to more than double its objective for the percentage of income it generates outside of Japan. According to the company's website, bitFlyer's revenues jumped 41 percent last year to 7.6 billion yen ($69 million) and its primary non-Japanese institutional customers are family offices and hedge funds.

License to Serve Customers

It has sought a license in Singapore to serve customers, including hedge funds, in the city-state. Non-fungible tokens are also on the horizon for the company, which plans to cash in on the surge. "Japan has a significant edge," he remarked. Anime characters like Pokemon and Hello Kitty are trademarked by the company. There will be a New Economy Forum held by Bloomberg Media Group, a subsidiary of Bloomberg LP, which owns Bloomberg News.

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