Japan’s Bitbank to handle crypto asset Polygon

Japanese crypto asset exchange operator Bitbank announced it would start handling transactions of Polygon (Matic) soon, set to become the first entity in Japan to do so.

The launch date of the new service would be soon, and further details would be announced in due course, Bitbank said in a statement on June 8. The new service would be operated on the Ethereum blockchain. 

Bitbank was established in 2014. In partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, it plans to establish Japan Digital Asset Trust, the first trust company for digital assets, by the end of the year. 

The new company will provide insurance against asset losses and is considering issuing a stable coin, a blockchain-based currency whose price movements are linked to legal tender, in Japanese yen.

Polygon is an Ethereum layer 2 solution that aims to increase transaction speed and reduce costs on the blockchain, characterised by low fees for transactions such as NFTs. Its native token, Matic, has a market capitalisation of about 637.6 billion yen, or 80.21 yen per unit, as of 3 June. 

Meanwhile, LINE Pay, a money transfer and payment service on the LINE messaging app, has enabled payments using LINE’s own crypto asset LINK at the messaging app’s online shops during a trial from March to December. LINK is issued on the LINE blockchain, a private blockchain developed independently by LINE.