Japan’s E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Launches ‘Rakuten Wallet’ Crypto Exchange

| Updated
by Janis Rijnieks · 2 min read
Japan’s E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Launches ‘Rakuten Wallet’ Crypto Exchange
Photo: Rakuten France / LinkedIn

Recently it has come to light that Rakuten has managed to launch its own cryptocurrency exchange called Rakuten Wallet.

In recent news, Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten has officially launched its own cryptocurrency exchange dubbed Rakuten Wallet. After successfully acquiring “Everybody’s Bitcoin” in August 2018 for $2,4 million, experts long speculated about the exact time when Rakuten will launch its new crypto platform. It was said that the launch date would be somewhat around April this year, but apparently it was stalled to unknown reasons. 

Currently the exchange has announced that users can start spot trading in three cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ethereum (ETH). The trading can be done through mobile versions as well, but for now, only Android version is available. The iOS version is planned for the beginning September.

“Customers who already have a bank account with Rakuten Bank will be able to easily open a Rakuten Wallet account simply by entering the required information on the online application form,” reads the announcement.

When speaking about the exchange, Rakuten explained that customers’ funds will be held in a “cold wallet” for maximum safety. Additionally, private keys will be managed through a multi-signature scheme. Regarding the two-factor authentication method, Rakuten explained that this feature is also available when logging in and when withdrawing funds from the platform. Also, the announcement notes that the customer funds will be stored in a different place than Rakuten’s funds.

“Money deposited by customers is managed separately from Rakuten Wallet’s own funds in a Rakuten Trust Co., Ltd. trust account. Crypto assets owned by Rakuten Wallet and customers are physically separated and managed, and cryptographic assets owned by customers are managed with cold wallets,” reads the press release.

Initially, as Coinspeaker has reported, Rakuten began accepting registrations in April, this year, and the bank’s clients had a chance to “get in” on the platform early.

However, Rakuten explains on their Rakuten Wallet website, that Rakuten Wallet as a cryptocurrency exchange is live since March 30, 2017. Maybe that’s when the idea was born.

Another thing – the fees within the exchange. Basically, the platform is feeless, however, when withdrawing Japanese Yen, the fee is 300 JPY, and when withdrawing crypto there is a small fee. For Bitcoin withdrawals – 0,001 BTC; for Bitcoin Cash withdrawals – 0,01 BCH; and for Ethereum withdrawals – 0,01 ETH. 

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