Establishing as an 'Exchange Specializing in Crypto Asset Management': The Synergy with CoinTrade's Point Media Business | Interview with Takaaki Fujiwara

──What is your perspective on the current crypto market conditions?

Takaaki Fujiwara (hereafter, Fujiwara): Looking strictly at market conditions, there’s no question that it is a challenging environment, as we as crypto exchanges are significantly impacted by market fluctuations.

On the other hand, having been in this industry for about eight or nine years, I feel that despite the current pessimistic market mood, there is an underlying resilience. Compared to past downturns, my impression is that the floor has moved up.

Key recent drivers include the progress of the Clarity Act being debated in the United States, as well as global crypto ETF listings. Since net outflows from institutional investors have increased recently, the market is inevitably being influenced by those movements.

Additionally, the lingering question regarding interest rates in the US and other countries—namely, "When will they cut rates?"—continues to persist. Because Bitcoin (BTC) is still classified as a risk-on asset, it is somewhat natural that capital experiences outflows in this environment.

That being said, compared to the past, the reasons behind price movements have become clearer and more grounded, which I think is a positive development. In the early days, prices swung wildly based on events like a coin getting listed on a new exchange or an incident occurring at a major platform. While upside momentum is currently limited, the emergence of this new structural support is something the industry as a whole can view positively.

──The crypto asset market is not particularly favorable at the moment. What strategies are you deploying in such a situation?

Fujiwara: CoinTrade began operations in 2021, making us a later entrant compared to our peers. At that time, the market was already crowded with major players, so it was not realistic to pursue a strategy of amassing a large number of accounts to increase trading volume. Therefore, from the outset, we have been offering services under the banner of 'asset management using crypto assets.'

In Japan, there are investors who have bought crypto assets cheaply but are hesitant to sell due to potential price increases or tax implications. We offer staking and lending services to these investors. Even in a bearish market, these services continue to attract a certain level of demand.

When it comes to staking in particular, we engage in thorough discussions with each project and run our own nodes. Our key strength lies in our technical setup as an exchange, which allows us to earn staking rewards while keeping user assets safely secured in cold wallets. Staking can be executed through various methods, and we pride ourselves on having built up a level of technical capability and expertise that stands out even when compared to our competitors.