Monex Group to take majority stake in asset manager 3iQ
Japan-based brokerage firm, asset manager and crypto exchange Monex Group has announced plans to buy a majority stake in 3iQ Digital Holdings.
In a Dec. 28 announcement, Monex cited 3iQ's experience as the first Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange in North America as the reason for the acquisition. The Canada-based firm launched a Bitcoin fund in 2020, years before similar products could be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Our long-term strategy is to strengthen our wealth management business, and by welcoming 3iQ to our team, we aim to achieve significant growth by accommodating the expected growing crypto asset management needs of institutional investors and crypto asset exchanges in the future,” said Monex CEO Yuko. Semey said.
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According to 3iQ Chairman and CEO Frederic Pye, the company plans to partner with Coincheck as part of the acquisition. Monex bought Coincheck in 2018 for one of the biggest hacks of the crypto exchange in the space's history at the time – roughly $534 million worth of NEM tokens.
In December, the Japanese government introduced a tax reform that would allow companies to avoid paying tax on “unrealized gains” from crypto holdings. Many crypto firms have previously closed operations in Japan in response to the regulatory environment, but the country has been increasingly embracing blockchain and Web 3 under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
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