Table of Contents
In this fourth installment of our series, we will talk about the trends of Bitcoin (BTC) as it approaches its halving, one of the major events in the cryptocurrency industry, and our company's efforts related to the halving.
BTC, which will undergo its fourth halving on April 20, 2024, exceeded 11 million yen against the yen on April 7, breaking its ATH.
As mining rewards have been halved to 3.125 BTC, there are various speculations, such as the view that some miners who are no longer profitable in the short term will put pressure on them to sell, or that the hash rate and mining difficulty will gradually be adjusted, leading to an upward trend in prices.
Another positive factor in the current fundamentals is the accelerating inflow of funds into ETF products created by major US asset management companies Grayscale and BlackRock, following the approval of the first BTC spot ETF in the US in January this year.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.com, these ETFs hold a total of approximately 570,000 BTC, which is approximately 2.7% of the total issuance of 21 million BTC (as of April 26).
In relation to this, Tesla and MicroStrategy were once hot topics as companies that hold BTC, but the current number of BTC held by listed companies around the world is reported to be about 310,000, which shows the high level of attention that ETFs are receiving.
In Japan, listed companies have also announced their purchase of BTC, and the future in which BTC will be on par with traditional asset classes is becoming a reality.
This year, we have announced the handling of five new crypto assets, including Aptos (APT), which will be the first crypto asset to be handled in Japan.
Currently, there are 40 crypto assets being handled, and the number of issues handled in the order book trading that OKCoinJapan focuses on is 39, making it the number one in Japan. *At the time of writing
In terms of the trading ratio of each crypto asset at domestic exchanges, BTC accounts for approximately 73% of the total (JVCEA statistical data as of February 2024).
Although there are times when the trading volume of altcoins increases, BTC accounts for a large proportion of the trading volume of OKCoinJapan.
To celebrate the halving of BTC, which continues to be popular, we conducted a collaboration campaign with the YouTube channel "Bitcoiner Review Meeting," which has been discussing specialized topics related to blockchain, mainly BTC, since the dawn of time.
This channel is also supported by advanced bitcoiners, and through the campaign, OKCoinJapan was recognized and highly praised for its narrow spreads at the exchange and the convenience of accumulation orders.
As an exchange, we will be more proactive in such collaborations, and will work to make crypto assets more accessible to beginners and further promote the spread of crypto assets.
◉ Daisuke Hakkaku
OKCoin Japan Co., Ltd. Executive Officer COO
After graduating from university, he got a job at a financial IT company, where he was in charge of supporting the introduction of stock trading systems and new business ventures. In 2018, he was involved in the establishment of a cryptocurrency-related company as a new business venture, and was responsible for the registration of the exchange business and handling of cryptocurrencies, which was the first scheme in Japan. In 2022, he joined OKCoin Japan Co., Ltd. and is in charge of promoting new services and marketing.
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