E-commerce Giant Rakuten Plans to Buy a Bitcoin Exchange for $2.4 Million

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Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten on Friday announced its plans to acquire a local bitcoin exchange ‘Everybody’s Bitcoin’ in a ¥265 million ($2.4 million) deal.

Rakuten’s credit card subsidiary Rakuten Card will buy 100% of the stock of Tokyo-based everybody’s bitcoin from its parent company, Traders Investment. The deal is expected to close on Oct. 1.

“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.”

Rakuten further revealed that a growing number of customers using its securities services, particularly in foreign exchange, “have been calling for the provision of a cryptocurrency exchange.” The company underlined the demand as another factor for its entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry.

With the planned acquisition, Rakuten aims to assist the exchange in enhancing its internal systems in an effort to meet with the regulator’s requirements for obtaining a license.

Rakuten says it has been “considering entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry” as it believes “the role of cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments will grow in the future.”

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