Crypto Exchange FTX Launches in Japan Following Domestic Acquisition

FTX’s new Japan-based exchange service comes on the heels of its acquisition of domestic company Liquid Group in February

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • FTX can now service the Japanese crypto market which possesses a potential $1 trillion, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said
  • The exchange will offer both spot and derivatives products, courtesy of its Type 1 Financial Instruments Business license

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has expanded its presence to Japan following its acquisition of a regulated domestic marketplace earlier this year.

In February, FTX acquired Japan-based fintech firm Liquid Group and its subsidiaries, granting the exchange access to the firm’s Type 1 Financial Instruments Business license.

Formerly known as Quoine Corporation, FTX Japan K.K is expected to offer Japanese customers a platform for spot and derivatives trading.

FTX – ever hungry for more business – continues to gobble up crypto and blockchain companies as it hopes to position itself as the pre-eminent marketplace for crypto trading.

Last year, the exchange’s US arm bought crypto derivatives platform LedgerX to get its hands on Ledger’s license to offer bitcoin fractional derivatives contracts. The exchange acquired the mobile news and portfolio tracking app Blockfolio in 2020 before renaming it FTX a year later.

Its most recent acquisition has allowed FTX to piggyback off of Liquid’s status as an existing licensed cryptoasset exchange services provider in a move that was critical to FTX’s expansion in the country, FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said.

“The acquisition not only gives us a technological advantage but also allows us to work directly with Japanese regulators in a transparent, constructive and positive manner,” Bankman-Fried said in the statement.

In January, FTX garnered an additional $400 million in funding via a Series C raise meant to broaden its services and acquisitions into international markets, allowing it to pick up licenses from domestic companies.

Japan’s “highly regulated market” for crypto trading possesses a potential $1 trillion, Bankman-Fried said, adding that his company would now be able to service the domestic market in both perpetual and spot trading.

“We look forward to further revolutionizing the Japanese digital asset ecosystem through FTX Japan,” he said.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (10).png

Research

Innovations on Aptos’ technical design through Raptr, Shardines, and Zaptos approach near-optimal latency and throughput by unlocking 100% utilization of network resources, with the capacity to settle 260k transactions per second with latencies less than 800ms. The original Move language was revamped with the launch of Move 2, supporting more expressivity in smart contract logic and a scalable ability to interact with high volume datasets. The ecosystem has benefitted from strong asset inflows, now hosting over $1.3B in stablecoins, $450M in bridged BTC, and $530M in RWAs. Activity in the Aptos ecosystem has grown notably over the past year, with monthly application revenue reaching ~$835k and monthly DEX volumes growing to over $5B, both at new all time highs.

article-image

Interchain Labs will focus on sovereign L1s and institutional demand, abandoning plans for smart contracts on the Cosmos Hub

article-image

Also, only three tokens have outperformed bitcoin so far this year: XMR, HYPE and SKY

article-image

The fund group has submitted proposals in recent months for other funds that would hold litecoin, solana, XRP, HBAR, Sui and others

article-image

Momentum’s back — BTC leads, risk assets follow

article-image

Ondo Finance’s acquisition of blockchain development company Strangelove follows its buy of Oasis Pro

article-image

Cryptocurrency and stock traders alike had a lot to unpack Wednesday