Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has announced the launch of its virtual currency exchange, VCTRADE, to the public.
The launch follows the opening up of the platform to pre-registered users last month. In an official announcement dated July 17, SBI said:
“Starting accepting applications for opening new accounts of our virtual currency exchange service (VCTRADE) from today.
“Account opening is available for individuals from 20 to 70 years old residing in Japan. Applications for establishing accounts from corporate customers are not currently accepted.”
Initially, the exchange platform offered support for Ripple’s XRP token, and subsequently added support for Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The plans to launch SBI Virtual Currencies Co., Ltd. were first revealed in October 2016. However, the launch was delayed as Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) made efforts to increase oversight of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges following the major hack at Coincheck earlier this year.
The company collaborated with Huobi cryptocurrency exchange in late 2017 in its efforts to launch the cryptocurrency exchange. However, SBI dissolved the partnership earlier this year.
