Japan's cryptocurrency exchanges should be regulated more like banks as they hold investors' assets while offering trading platforms, the chief executive of online brokerage Monex Group Inc said. Monex, Japan's No.3 online brokerage, on Monday completed the 3.6 billion yen ($33.6 million) acquisition of Coincheck Inc - the exchange hit by a $530 million digital money heist - in the most significant move yet by a major financial company into Japan's crypto sector.
Coincheck, like many of Japan's other cryptocurrency exchanges, holds customers' assets as well as "matching" those who want to trade digital money.
"Japan's exchanges do both matching and custodial services - they're close to a bank," CEO Oki Matsumoto told Reuters in an interview. "To someone in the financial industry like myself, it's common sense that regulations will get stricter."