Coincheck, a major cryptocurrency exchange and subsidiary of the Japanese financial listed company Monex Group, announced on November 1 that it will begin handling the cryptocurrency Stellar Lumens (XLM) from November 12, 2019. The exchange will be the first to handle XLM currency within Japan.

 

Currently, Coincheck handles 10 cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), NEM (XEM), Lisk (LSK), Factom (FCT), and Monacoin (MONA), and now 11 with the addition of Stellar Lumens.

 

Coincheck originally started handling the lesser known LSK and FCT currencies earlier than other cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, which drove its popularity as an exchange. It was brought under the umbrella of the Monex Group after experiencing a hacking incident in January 2018 that forced the outflow of approximately \58 billion ($534 million) worth of cryptocurrency, and took measures to rebuild its exchange system. In June 2018, Coincheck gradually reopened a portion of its cryptocurrency services such as withdrawals. By January 2019, it had registered as a cryptocurrency exchange operator with Japan’s Financial Services Agency. Coincheck also appears to be proceeding with the next concrete steps to legitimize its business while other domestic cryptocurrency exchange operators are seeking to handle new digital currencies which requires more processing time at regulating authorities.

 

After Coincheck’s announcement that it will start handling XLM, the Stellar Development Foundation announced on November 5 that it had “token burned” or carried out the permanent removal of over 50% of the total XLM supply from the market. With market distribution reduced by half, the price of XLM soared on November 5 based on the anticipation that the cryptocurrency’s market price would rise. This provided a favorable situation for Coincheck, as XLM immediately drew focus in Japan as the exchange’s newly handled cryptocurrency.

Going forward, it appears that the competition will heat up between cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, which are enhancing their services to customers by increasing the range of cryptocurrencies handled while undertaking procedures toward legitimacy from regulating authorities.

 

*This article was written by FISCO.