Coinbase Partners with Mitsubishi UFJ to Advance Its Japanese Expansion

As revealed in a blog post shared by the firm, Coinbase expansion will be aided by a functional partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (TYO: 8306), one of the largest banking institutions in the Asian country.

Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) was founded in 2012 as a reliable way for people to buy cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin amongst its pioneering assets. Over the years, the exchange has not just grown its customer base, it has notably boosted its services, supported assets, and is now pushing forth for expansion into new markets. Today, Coinbase serves more than 68 million users and 9,000 institutions in over 100 countries to easily and securely invest, spend, save, earn, and use crypto.

The choice of Japan might have gotten crypto observers wondering, as the region has a stiff regulatory stance on all digital currency-related activities. However, the exchange said it is ready to become one of the most compliant trading platforms in the region, a move that will be facilitated by its partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ.

“In line with our global strategy, we will aim to be the easiest to use and most trusted exchange in Japan that’s fully compliant with local regulations. That’s why we are also excited to announce our partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) – one of the largest banks in Japan serving 40 million Japanese customers,” the blog post reads. “Our partnership with MUFG will help millions of people in Japan access our platform quickly and begin trading on our exchange by offering MUFG Quick Deposit for all customers in Japan from day one.”

The move was announced following the approval of Coinbase’s application to conduct business as an exchange in the country by the Financial Services Agency (FSA) according to Coindesk.

Coinbase Japanese Expansion: A Springboard for New Product Debut

It is an undoubted fact that Coinbase is one of the most valuable cryptocurrency exchanges in the world right now, a tag it obtained following its historic public market debut earlier this year. The firm is however looking to push forth new frontiers, using the Japanese market as a case study to launch new products to serve local consumers.

“Today’s launch is just the beginning. Coinbase is committed to increasing the use of crypto in Japan by bringing a best-in-class product offering to Japanese customers.” the exchange said “We will be launching retail products first including a suite of five top assets based on trading volume, and will add more assets and products in the coming months. We also plan to introduce more localized versions of globally popular services such as advanced trading, Coinbase for Institutions, and more in the future.”

At a time when cryptocurrency exchanges including Kraken are leaving Japan, Coinbase may have a huge market, should it be able to fulfill all of the regulator’s demands.