Japanese E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Buys a Bitcoin Exchange

Japanese retail conglomerate, Rakuten, has announced the purchase of Everybody’s Bitcoin Inc., an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange platform in the country. The acquisition follows a history of past forays into the emerging industry by the e-commerce behemoth.

More Rakuten Customers Asking for Bitcoin Exchange Service

According to a press release issued on Rakuten’s website on Friday (August 31, 2018), the company announced that the purchase would be facilitated via its subsidiary firm, Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. The statement also revealed that the deal would be based on a stock purchase agreement between its subsidiary and Traders Investment Inc., the parent company of the Bitcoin exchange platform.

The deal is expected to be finalized by October 1, 2018. Providing a reason for the purchase, a portion of the press release reads:

A growing number of customers, in particular, foreign exchange customers, of Rakuten Securities, the securities company of the Rakuten Group, have been…