Yahoo Japan, which dominates the Japanese internet, is reportedly planning to establish itself in the cryptocurrency business by taking a stake in a bitcoin exchange.
The Nikkei Asian Review reported that the company is set to acquire a 40 percent stake in the bitcoin exchange BitARG Exchange Tokyo via its foreign exchange business unit YJFX for about 2 billion yen, and then launch a full-fledged crypto exchange in April next year or beyond.
Yahoo Japan is originally a joint venture between Altaba, the New York-based investment company created after Verizon's acquisition of the American internet company Yahoo, and the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.
While Yahoo faded in obscurity globally by late 2000s, Yahoo Japan has remained dominant in the Japanese internet landscape. BitARG is registered with Japan's Financial Services Authority. The Nikkei report said that Yahoo Japan will make additional investments in BitARG January through March 2019 through another subsidiary and create a new exchange on the latter's system.
The two companies have reported their capital tie-up plan to the FSA, the Nikkei report said.
Meanwhile, BitARG said on its website that the company is exploring potential tie-ups but has not decided on anything as of now.
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