 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cryptocurrency |
| Founded | January 9, 2014 |
| Founder | Yuzo Kano |
| Headquarters | Tokyo , Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kuniyoshi Hayashi, Chief Executive Officer |
| Website | bitflyer |
bitFlyer is a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Tokyo. It was founded in 2014 and is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Japan. [1]
bitFlyer was founded in 2014 by Yuzo Kano, a former derivatives and bonds trader from Goldman Sachs. [2] bitFlyer's cryptocurrency exchange was launched in April 2014, a few months before the once market-dominant bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, went out of business. [3] In 2018 the exchange stopped taking new customers after Japanese regulators accused the exchange of not taking actions to stop money laundering and terrorist financing. [4] Regulators stated that most directors were friends of the CEO Yuzo Kano, a former Goldman Sachs trader. [4] By February 2016, it had 100,000 users and was processing about 7 billion yen ($64 million USD) in monthly cryptocurrency transactions, making it the largest Bitcoin exchange in Japan. [5] It raised about $36 million USD in venture capital over three funding rounds. [6] The company established partnerships with retailers, mobile app companies, and payment processors to facilitate smartphone-based cryptocurrency payments at retail locations. [7] bitFlyer also secured regulatory approval to sell cryptocurrency to institutional investors. [8]
bitFlyer expanded internationally to the United States in November 2017 and to Europe in January 2018. [6] By 2018, the company was processing 80 percent of bitcoin transactions in Japan and had grown to 150 employees. [6] [9] In 2018, bitFlyer was one of six exchanges ordered to improve their procedures against money laundering, causing bitFlyer to temporarily suspend services while it implemented new systems. [10]
In 2019, bitFlyer created a subsidiary focused on blockchain technology and services. [11]
In May 2023, BitFlyer was fined by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for failing to meet state cybersecurity requirements. [12] [13] The company was fined $1.2 million. [12]
Users of the bitFlyer exchange can buy/sell cryptocurrency with each other, or buy/sell directly with bitFlyer itself. [3]
bitFlyer's first service was its cryptocurrency exchange, which was initially focused on bitcoin. [9] The company later added futures contracts and bitcoin derivatives to the exchange. [1] [6] As of 2017, 75 percent of transactions on bitFlyer are for derivatives, where users make investments based on their prediction of future bitcoin prices. [14]
bitFlyer first introduced its blockchain technology, called Miyabi, in 2016. [15] In 2019, bitFlyer added other cryptocurrencies to its exchange, such as Ethereum and Litecoin.[ citation needed ] The company also added features to pay for goods at retailers using cryptocurrency and to buy cryptocurrency using credit cards or points from loyalty programs. [16] In June 2020, bitFlyer introduced a blockchain-based voting service called bvote. [17] The company also introduced a blockchain consulting arm. [18]
A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that typically takes the bid–ask spreads as a transaction commission for its service or, as a matching platform, simply charges fees.
Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown person. Use of bitcoin as a currency began in 2009, with the release of its open-source implementation. In 2021, El Salvador adopted it as legal tender. It is mostly seen as an investment and has been described by some scholars as an economic bubble. As bitcoin is pseudonymous, its use by criminals has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to its ban by several countries as of 2021.
A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.
Mt. Gox was a bitcoin exchange based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Launched in 2010, it was handling over 70% of all bitcoin transactions worldwide by early 2014, when it abruptly ceased operations amid revelations of its involvement in the loss/theft of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins, then worth hundreds of millions in US dollars.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a digital asset that uses cryptography to control its creation and management rather than relying on central authorities. Originally designed as a medium of exchange, Bitcoin is now primarily regarded as a store of value. The history of bitcoin started with its invention and implementation by Satoshi Nakamoto, who integrated many existing ideas from the cryptography community. Over the course of bitcoin's history, it has undergone rapid growth to become a significant store of value both on- and offline. From the mid-2010s, some businesses began accepting bitcoin in addition to traditional currencies.
Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency financial services company. The company began as the first Bitcoin blockchain explorer in 2011 and later created a cryptocurrency wallet that accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. It also operates a cryptocurrency exchange and provides institutional markets lending business and data, charts, and analytics.
Mark Robert Karpelès is the former CEO of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Born in France, he moved to Japan in 2009. Under his leadership, Mt. Gox was the world's largest bitcoin exchange, handling over 70% of all bitcoin transactions at its peak before filing for bankruptcy in 2014. Karpelès was subsequently arrested and convicted of data manipulation related to his role at Mt. Gox.
Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company that now manages stablecoin USDC, a cryptocurrency the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. USDC, the second largest stablecoin worldwide, is designed to hold at or near a stable price of $1. The majority of its stablecoin collateral is held in short-term U.S. government securities.
CoinDesk is a news site specializing in bitcoin and digital currencies. Founded by Shakil Khan, the firm also provides guides to bitcoin for those new to digital currencies.
A BitLicense is the common term used for a business license for virtual currency activities, issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) under regulations designed for companies. The regulations are limited to activities involving the state of New York or a New York resident. People residing in, located in, having a place of business in, or conducting business in the State of New York count as New York Residents under these regulations. The license was introduced and designed by Benjamin Lawsky, New York's first Superintendent of Financial Services, in July 2014. Chartered entities do not require an explicit BitLicense, but may instead proceed with virtual currency activities via limited purpose trust charters approved by the NYDFS.
Blockstream is a blockchain technology company led by co-founder Adam Back, headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with offices and staff worldwide. The company develops products and services for the storage and transfer of cryptocurrency.
Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at US$3 billion in January 2024. The company has been the subject of several regulatory investigations since 2018, and has agreed to cumulative fines of over $30 million.
Coincheck is a Japanese bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It operates exchanges between bitcoin, ether and fiat currencies in Japan, and bitcoin transactions and storage in some countries.
ShapeShift AG was a cryptocurrency exchange which operated from 2017 to 2016 and was headquartered in Switzerland.
Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that is a fork of bitcoin. Launched in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is considered an altcoin or spin-off of bitcoin. In November 2018, Bitcoin Cash further split into two separate cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV).
A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or an online service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cryptocurrency wallet more often offers the functionality of encrypting and/or signing information. Signing can for example result in executing a smart contract, a cryptocurrency transaction, identification, or legally signing a 'document'.
Cryptocurrency and crime describe notable examples of cybercrime related to theft of cryptocurrencies and some methods or security vulnerabilities commonly exploited. Cryptojacking is a form of cybercrime specific to cryptocurrencies used on websites to hijack a victim's resources and use them for hashing and mining cryptocurrency.
BitMEX is a cryptocurrency exchange and derivative trading platform. It is owned and operated by HDR Global Trading Limited, which is registered in the Seychelles.
Paxos Trust Company is a New York–based financial institution and technology company specializing in blockchain. The company's product offerings include a cryptocurrency brokerage service, asset tokenization services, and settlement services. ItBit, a bitcoin exchange run by Paxos, was the first bitcoin exchange to be licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services, granting the company the ability to be the custodian and exchange for customers in the United States.
The transaction malleability problem is a vulnerability in blockchain which can be exploited by altering a cryptographic hash, such as the digital signature used to identify a cryptocurrency transaction. Transaction malleability is considered to be one of the largest ongoing threats to blockchain technology, as it can compromise financial transactions such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions, and cause other issues in the network.
[[Category:Internet technology companies of Japan]
