Yahoo partnership puts Binance back in the Japanese market

Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has found a canny new way to provide its services in the highly-regulated Japanese market. 

The exchange today announced that it had partnered with two Yahoo Japan subsidiaries, Z Corporation and TaoTao, in order to operate a trading platform for Japanese customers.

Yahoo Japan is a veritable internet giant. Originally the result of a partnership between the American web services provider Yahoo and Japanese multinational SoftBank, its now independent of it's US counterpart, while Softbank still owns 48% of the company.

In fact, Yahoo Japan is even more successful than its US namesake, with a large market share, tactical partnerships and popular product launches. 

It established its subsidiary Z Corporation in 2018, to focus on the development of future technologies. TaoTao, a cryptocurrency trading platform, was launched last June to cater for Japanese traders.

The announcement said that Z Corporation and TaoTao will work closely with Japan’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, to ensure full compliance. 

Binance has run into hot water in Japan in the past. The exchange was at one time based in the country, but in 2018, due to issues with regulars over anti-money laundering compliance, it set up a base in Malta instead. 

On Thursday, Binance warned users that it will begin to “gradually restrict transactions” for residents of Japan ahead of the launch of its new trading platform.