Cryptocurrency is a very popular industry in Japan. Ever since the government legalized Bitcoin as legal tender, demand for this speculative asset has not declined by any means. Various exchanges allow people to buy Bitcoin with Japanese yen. The following platforms are listed in alphabetical order, as their daily trading volumes tend to fluctuate a bit.
6. Bitbank
Most traders may not have heard of this cryptocurrency trading platform, even though it has been around for quite some time now. Bitbank offers JPY-based trading of Bitcoin, as well as XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and Monacoin. Despite supporting Ethereum and Litecoin, those altcoins can only be traded against Bitcoin at this stage. It will be interesting to see if the company decides to expand its JPY trading pairs in the future.
5. Bitfinex
Although most people would not expect it, Bitfinex supports quite a few fiat currencies these days. Expanding beyond the US dollar has been the main focus of the company. Its JPY trading market for Bitcoin is not the biggest by any means, yet the company still provides this option to users. It has helped the company strengthen its position in the global cryptocurrency industry.
4. bitFlyer
One of the biggest and oldest exchanges in Japan goes by the name of bitFlyer. The company made a name for itself by being the first platform to introduce Bitcoin-oriented crowdfunding efforts. Its JPY-BTC trading pair is quite popular on a global scale, as bitFlyer usually ranks in the top 25 markets for daily Bitcoin trading volume.
3. Coincheck
Whereas Coincheck used to be one of the bigger exchanges in Japan, the company has seemingly lost a fair bit of clout since its latest hack. Even so, Coincheck is still a relatively popular platform when it comes to buying or selling Bitcoin in exchange for yen.
2. Quoine
One particular exchange always stands out when it comes to JPY trading volume. Quoine has been generating a lot of volume for as long as most people remember. Even so, it is one of the exchanges whose volume numbers are excluded by CoinMarketCap, along with Coincheck and Zaif. It’s still unclear why that is the case.
1. Zaif
The Zaif exchange generates the majority of JPY-BTC volume. In fact, it generates almost twice the volume of the second-place exchange on most days, which is remarkable. Even so, Zaif’s trading volume is currently excluded from CoinMarketCap, although that does not appear to have affected the exchange’s popularity. Despite being the top generator of JPY-BTC trading volume, it only represents just over 1.1% of the global daily Bitcoin trading volume.