Although many risk-averse individuals are hesitant to venture into the nascent cryptocurrency industry, there are some that are willing to take the plunge, including a multitude of former institutional investors, analysts, traders, and executives.
Japanese Trader Joins FXCoin As Senior Strategist
Since the inception of Bitcoin, talented individuals have flocked to crypto and blockchain startups in a bid to get in early on the next big industry.
Mike Novogratz, CEO of the crypto-centric Galaxy Digital, commented on the matter in an interview last year. The former institutional investor, who has also become a well-known cryptocurrency proponent, stated:
“I’m sure that Joe Lubin, the guys at Consensus, us at our hedge fund, and [firms] all over the place (cryptocurrency industry) have their pick of hiring people. The young people see this as the next grand opportunity.”
And even though prices have plummeted in the aftermath of 2017’s jaw-dropping bull run, there still seem to be some forward thinkers who are still ready to dive headfirst into the 21st century’s greatest invention.
Most recently, former capital markets trader Yasuo Matsuda has downed the red pill, as he took his first steps into the cryptosphere over the past few days. As reported by Bloomberg, Matsuda, who formerly worked as a Deutsche Bank foreign-exchange dealer, has been picked up by crypto exchange startup FXCoin. The Japanese trader will reportedly take up a senior strategist position and will provide reports on the daily movements of the crypto market from this month onwards.
This isn’t FXCoin’s first time poaching talent from traditional markets, as the startup, headed by CEO Tomoo Onishi, has hired over 15 individuals from established financial institutions in the past 8 months. Speaking with Bloomberg about the hope for his brainchild, Onishi revealed that along with offering trading support, he intends to build FXCoin into a go-to place for investors to keep up-to-date with the cryptocurrency industry, adding:
“Investors won’t be able to take action unless they know what happened in the market when they were asleep.”
Although the team behind the exchange undoubtedly has promise, it is important to note that the exchange side of FXCoin’s business has still not received the green light from the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA). But as per a report from The Japan Times, the FSA has recently made move to double-down on its efforts to screen prospective crypto exchanges, which evidently isn’t a good sign for FXCoin.
The Japanese regulatory body, which is essentially the equivalent of the U.S. SEC, revealed that it intends to protect consumers by tightening the registration process for exchange license applicants. More specifically, insiders noted that the FSA has plans to bolster the difficulty of the questionnaire given to applicants and to require startups to submit board minutes.
Following this announcement, analysts noted that they expect for many applicants to drop out of the licensing race. But seeing that FXCoin is backed by a group of more than competent individuals, there is a high possibility that the startup will eventually be able to jump through the proper regulatory hoops to open its exchange to the public.
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