Hong Kong’s OSL Group, a publicly traded company focused on digital assets, announced a strategic acquisition of CoinBest KK, a licensed crypto exchange operating in Japan.
The company has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire an 81.38% stake in the licensed crypto exchange operating in Japan, OSL announced in a statement on Monday.
Through this acquisition, OSL aims to achieve significant commercial synergies.
“Leveraging the strong foundations we have built in Hong Kong, we aim to bring our expertise in OTC, custody and trading services to new markets. Additionally, we look forward to gaining valuable insights and cutting-edge technologies from these markets to enhance our and strengthen our competitive advantage at all levels,” said Ivan Wong, OSL Group Chief Investment Officer.
The collaboration will drive product and service innovation, resource sharing, and ultimately better global trade liquidity across their platforms. This includes OSL Digital Securities, one of the leading regulated digital asset platforms in Hong Kong.
The decision to target Japan is strategic for OSL. Known for its regulatory maturity and rapidly growing adoption rate, the Japanese market presents a lucrative opportunity for OSL to expand its reach. With over 5.16 million active digital asset accounts in 2023, an increase of 238% from 2018, Japan is a major player in the crypto space, OSL said, citing Statista data .
The acquisition of CoinBest by the OSL group comes at a time of significant regulatory developments in Japan. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) is actively working to establish a robust regulatory framework for digital assets, aiming to balance innovation and investor protection.
Japanese financial giants, including banks and crypto companies, have also urged regulators to approve crypto ETFs and reduce the tax rate on cryptocurrencies from 55% to 20%.
People’s Democratic Party leader Yuichiro Tamaki made crypto tax cuts one of his campaign promises in Japan’s 2024 general election that ended last week, in which his party won 17 additional seats in the House of Representatives.
Japan Considers Cutting Crypto Tax Rates in 2025 Review
The country intends to reduce taxes on cryptocurrencies to a flat rate of 20%, in line with taxes that currently apply to traditional assets such as stocks.
