The Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) has just announced that by the end of March it will publish a list of 18 cryptocurrencies that local platforms can list without prior verification, Nikkei has reported.
The whitelist will reportedly include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin.
For an asset to be whitelisted, it must be listed on at least three platforms with a six-month trading history on at least one of them.
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The aim of the measure is to facilitate the inclusion of cryptos to the list of tradable instruments and to increase the competitiveness of Japanese crypto exchanges internationally.
According to the announcement:
"Sophisticated traders have flocked to exchanges that do not have a license in Japan, such as Binance, partly due to the lack of options."
The agency has highlighted there are no more than 40 cryptos represented on all Japanese sites, while this number is twice as many on Binance and four times as many on Coinbase. Local platforms GMO Coin and BitFlyer, the largest in the country, have included 20 and 15 assets to the list, respectively.
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