Japanese marketplace bitFlyer announced today a record high amount attracted during its Series C funding round, shortly after the government allowed banks in the country to use digital currencies.
A group of companies led by Venture Labo Investment and SBI Investment, both being venture capital divisions of the financial giant SBI Group, provided bitFlyer with 3 billion yen ($27 million). According to the exchange, raised capital will help the company to intensify research and development of blockchain-based projects, as well as bitcoin trading applications.
“Investors value our technical advantage. We are almost the only company that has been focusing on both virtual currency and blockchain from day one,” Yuzo Kano, CEO of bitFlyer, told CoinDesk.
BitFlyer's previous funding round took place in August 2015. As a result, the exchange raised 510 million yen ($4 million) from a group of investors including Dentsu Digital Holdings, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital and Venture Labo.
So far Japanese investment funds demonstrate a high level of trust to cryptocurrency and blockchain-related startups. Apparently their confidence is reinforced by the positive attitude of Japanese financial authorities towards digital currencies. Regardless of some legislative proposals in the recent period which could significantly limit and slow down the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country, the Japanese government took a favourable stance and approved a number of regulatory acts permitting banking groups to use cryptocurrencies and offer related financial services.
At the same time, the authorities are taking steps to strengthen regulation of this fintech segment and oblige exchanges trading bitcoin and other digital currencies to undergo official registration. This is regarded as a protective measure for exchange customers to minimise risks and prevent the use of these trading platforms for money laundering.
In 2014, the bitcoin community saw the collapse of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, then one of the biggest cryptocurrency markets in the world, which used to control over 70% of all bitcoin turnover at that time.
The number of bitFlyer's customers has risen 10 times over a year up to 150,000. Currently, the exchange holds two offices in Tokyo and Luxemburg with total 23 employees.
Elena Platonova
