Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has announced the launch of a Bitcoin over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk to extend its services to institutional clients.
According to the April 1 press release, Coincheck‘s OTC desk will only allow to trades in large volumes - minimum 50 Bitcoin, valued around $207,000, at a time.
The platform will allow the OTC trading only on weekdays from 10 am to 3 pm (JST) on its dedicated Coincheck service (WEB).
Coincheck also clarified that the overtime trading services along with trading using its app or application program interface (API) would not be eligible for OTC services.
Targeting High Volume Traders
By introducing OTC trading services, Coincheck has joined the likes of major global digital asset exchanges, targeting high volume traders and institutional clients. In February, Bithumb introduced a similar service following Bittrex, Binance, and Huobi.
In November, Coinbase, the United States’ leading crypto exchange and wallet platform, launched an OTC service for crypto trading and became a fully regulated broker under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Once Japan’s largest crypto exchange, Coincheck endured a massive attack in early 2018, when more than $530 million worth NEM tokens were stolen from the exchange. It was the largest attack on any digital asset exchange, in terms of the involved value of Cryptocurrencies . The incident rocked the Japanese crypto market, as the Financial Services Agency (FSA) started to curb exchanges with sub-par technological and business standards.
The attack also created a massive dent on the exchange’s business which was later revived with its acquisition in last April by Japanese broker Monex Group.
Under the new parent company, the exchange reopened its services again in November and received an operational license from the authorities earlier this year.
Japan is also on the road to approve more players in the industry as recently the financial regulator granted licenses to two crypto exchanges.
