Author | AB Kuai.Dong, Ambassador of Skyland Fund, Partner at allinweb3, Former Marketing Director at BlockBeats

Author’s Twitter: https://x.com/_FORAB

Amid the wave of Crypto going offshore, Japan has become an attractive location due to its favorable exchange rates, low work visa thresholds, and ease of obtaining permanent residency. Over the past year, many Crypto projects and exchanges have established offices in Japan, using it as an offshore base for global markets. This year, cities like Tokyo and Osaka have become financial special zones, with the countdown to investment-based permanent residency policies officially starting.

So, which well-known teams are based in Japan? What is the scale and number of their teams? This article will provide a detailed review.

Large-Scale Teams with Hundreds of Members

Binance, in 2022, acquired the Japanese compliant exchange SEBC through a reverse merger. In late 2023, it was renamed Binance Japan, officially launching its compliant business in Japan. In the same year, it partnered with Japan’s leading bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, to plan the issuance of a yen stablecoin. Due to the tightening of work visas in Singapore and regulatory policies in the United States in 2023, some employees who did not obtain overseas work visas were reassigned to Binance Japan. Since then, Binance’s Tokyo office has begun its large-scale expansion.

BitFlyer is Japan’s leading compliant exchange. In its early days, its shareholders were mainly financial conglomerates like Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. This year, the company acquired the bankrupt FTX Japan subsidiary, further consolidating its position as Japan’s leading compliant exchange. Although BitFlyer started domestically in Japan, it has always sought international expansion.

Coincheck is a top-tier exchange in Japan, with a higher listing frequency compared to its Japanese counterparts. It has publicly cooperated with Animoca Brands and Circle. In May of this year, the company planned to go public on NASDAQ in the United States through a SPAC.

Bitbank is one of the few Japanese exchanges that supports overseas companies in registering and opening accounts, providing customer support in Chinese and English. In 2022, the company invested in the Japanese game public chain Oasys and established a partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

SBI Crypto is a subsidiary of Japan’s leading securities firm SBI. Over the past few years, the company has acquired and merged with several Crypto companies and operates Bitcoin and Litecoin mining pools. The team is relatively diverse, with employees from China, the United States, and Australia.

Medium-Sized Teams with Dozens of Members

Cardano is the highest market cap project by a Japanese team on CMC. It has two co-founders who have long worked and lived in Japan. This team was among the early beneficiaries of Japan’s ICO boom, with its issued ADA once considered the Japanese version of Ethereum by the local community. The Japanese team continues to operate, frequently hosting offline events in the surrounding areas.

Backpack is an exchange and multi-chain wallet supported by investments from Multicoin and the Solana Foundation. One co-founder leads the product and technology department from their office in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where Backpack’s development and operations are carried out. The team is currently still recruiting and expanding.

B2C2 is an international liquidity market maker with hundreds of employees globally, and its Tokyo office alone has dozens of members. The company was once the largest liquidity provider for XRP and has provided liquidity services for well-known projects such as Blockdaemon and Stakewise.

Cointelegraph Japan is a top international crypto media outlet with an independent team based in Tokyo. This Japanese team also manages Cointelegraph’s Chinese, Indonesian, and Korean sites.

MEXC is a well-known exchange in the crypto space, commonly referred to as Mocha. It has an office in Japan primarily to meet the operational service needs of the Asian time zone, making it the second offshore office besides the one in Malaysia.

Amber Japan is the Japanese subsidiary of market maker Amber, with a registered capital of 800 million yen. At its peak, the company acquired the Financial Services Agency-registered DeCurret to complete its local compliance work. However, amid debt rumors at the parent company, it was considered for sale and is rumored to have been acquired by a Japanese consortium.

Oasys is a Layer1 blockchain supported by investments from NGC, Kucoin, and Jump. It has already established partnerships with many well-known Japanese gaming companies, helping to issue NFTs and in-game items for their IPs on the blockchain.

AStar is a long-standing public chain project in Japan that has received investments from Polychain, Coinbase, and Binance. This year, it partnered with Sony to establish a crypto accelerator and has now pivoted towards the zkEVM track.

Jasmy is one of Japan’s earliest Crypto + IoT projects and one of the few Japanese projects listed on Binance and Coinbase. Currently, it is ranked 56th globally by market cap and has attracted considerable attention from Chinese-speaking investors. It has now shifted to the DePIN track.

CoinPost is a leading local crypto media outlet in Japan, with its annual webX summit having significant influence.

Double Jump is the parent company of Oasys and has launched well-known IP NFT projects such as “Captain Tsubasa” and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

Small Teams with a Few to Dozens of Members

Hashed is the largest Crypto fund in Korea, but it also has a research group in Japan. Every year, it co-hosts the Tokyo Blockchain Leaders Summit, inviting numerous founders from Hashed’s portfolio to participate.

Skyland is the largest Crypto fund registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency and is one of the few Japanese institutions actively investing in Chinese projects. It has invested in well-known projects such as Taiko, Merlin, Bitlayer, Unisat, and BitSmiley.

IVC (Infinity Ventures Crypto) is a Japanese seed fund with a global focus. It is affiliated with the operator of the Kyoto IVS Summit and has invested in renowned projects like YGG, Mirror, and Scroll.

Azuki, an internationally renowned NFT project, has a dedicated artist studio in Japan that provides design and local operations for Azuki. It is also a well-known blue-chip NFT project among Japanese investors.

Mask Network, one of the earliest Chinese Crypto projects to enter Japan, is well-known in the Japanese crypto community. Prominent community KOL 0xCryptoBaby is a member of Mask. Mask is a major sponsor of various international conferences in Japan each year.

OneKey, an open-source wallet service provider, has received investments from Dragonfly, Coinbase, and Framework. The founder relocated to Japan early on, and relevant members are responsible for business expansion in Japan.

Intmax is a Layer2 blockchain that has received investments from SNZ, Hashkey, and Mask. The founder, Mai Fujimoto, is a well-known figure in the Japanese crypto community and is often referred to as “Bitcoin Miss” by the media for her early advocacy of Bitcoin technology and value in Japan.

Myshell is an AI consumer layer project that has received investments from Dragonfly, OKX, and Folius. Currently, core members have established a company and office in Japan.

KEKKAI is an on-chain security detection company that has received investments from Bixin, Skyland, and Mask. The founder is a core member of the Waseda University Blockchain Association and has helped many internationally renowned projects host hackathons in Japan.

TON is a blockchain built by Telegram, with dedicated ambassadors and an ecosystem offline office in Tokyo. During a recent Tokyo roadshow, five Japanese project teams based on TON showcased and shared their work.

Ripple, an early top crypto project to develop the Japanese market, has a joint venture with SBI, with offices and operations in Japan. The initial major liquidity providers for XRP were Japanese market-making teams.

Animoca Japan is the Japanese subsidiary of Animoca, having received investments from JR West and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. They are shareholders of the Japanese game guild Apricot Planet and have established partnerships with Mitsui & Co. and KDDI.

YGG Japan is the independent Japanese subsidiary of YGG, having received investments from Animoca, Gate, and IVC. It has organized several offline blockchain game events in Japan with significant influence.

BYTOM, a well-known blockchain in the Chinese-speaking community, officially established its Tokyo office this year and is currently transitioning to AI.

Aki, a consumer task platform, has received investments from Oak, Mask, and CatcherVC. Before issuing its token, the team relocated to Japan and established a Tokyo office.

MyToken, a veteran soft wallet company in the crypto space, has relocated its founder and core members to Tokyo and gradually set up a Tokyo office.

Gate, a well-established Crypto exchange, has a global team for the Asia-Pacific time zone in Japan and has established a Tokyo office.

OKCoin is the compliance branch of OKX in Japan, with a team in Japan supporting global listing and legal matters in the Asian time zone, operating out of a Tokyo office.

Atomicals Market, the largest trading market for Bitcoin ARC20, has its founder long residing in Tokyo. He is a senior blockchain technology developer in the Tokyo Chinese community.

In addition to the above, there are dozens of lesser-known global Crypto companies in Japan, mainly providing offshore operations, development outsourcing, and market connectivity in Japan. I hope the above content helps you understand the latest Crypto market situation in Japan. Thank you for reading.

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