Rakuten to acquire crypto exchange to meet growing demand from forex customers

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has announced the acquisition of a local bitcoin exchange Everybody’s Bitcoin, Finance Magnates reported August 31.

Rakuten has announced the complete acquisition of the crypto exchange for nearly $2.4 million. The share transfer agreement has been signed today and will be finalized on October 1st.

“In order to provide cryptocurrency payment methods smoothly, we believe it is necessary for us to provide a cryptocurrency exchange function,” Rakuten said in a statement, adding that “the role of cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments will grow in the future.”

The company said that the acquisition was driven by the growing demand from its foreign exchange customers for the provision of a cryptocurrency exchange service.

Rakuten plans to help Everybody’s Bitcoin receive a license from Japan’s Financial Services Agency. The exchange reportedly suffered a net loss of around $444,000 during the fiscal year that ended March 2018.

“[Everybody’s Bitcoin] aims to register officially as a cryptocurrency exchange, and in order to further promote its cryptocurrency business, it decided to expand the business under the Rakuten Group to maximize synergies,” it said.

Rakuten started accepting bitcoin payments back in 2015. Earlier this year, it announced its plans to launch its own cryptocurrency. It has also set up a blockchain lab in Belfast in 2016.