Japan's Monex Group is acquiring a majority stake in Canadian crypto firm 3iQ Digital Holdings, aiming to strengthen its asset management business and capture the growing crypto asset management needs of institutional investors and exchanges worldwide. Monex Group, which also owns the crypto exchange Coincheck and the U.S.-based online brokerage firm TradeStation, plans to leverage 3iQ's product creation capabilities to maximize synergies among its group companies. 3iQ's chairman and CEO, Frederick T. Pye, expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with Coincheck and its 1.8 million customer accounts. Japan's crypto industry has seen some gains this year, with efforts to provide more guidelines and regulations, including stablecoin-related regulations established in June.

Japan-based Monex Group, which runs an online brokerage, cryptocurrency exchange, and asset management business, said Thursday that it plans to acquire a majority stake in Canadian crypto asset firm 3iQ Digital Holdings."Our long term strategy is to strengthen our asset management business, and by welcoming 3iQ to our group, we aim to achieve high growth by capturing the crypto asset management needs of institutional investors and crypto asset exchanges around the world, which are expected to grow in the future, " Monex Group CEO Yuko Seimei said in a statement.Monex Group acquired the crypto exchange Coincheck in 2018, building up its digital asset investment business. After "investments in governance, internal controls, and security, it registered as a crypto asset exchange service provider in Japan," according to a Monex Group statement.Monex also owns U.S.-based online brokerage service firm TradeStation.Although 3iG experienced a high volume of outflows earlier this year, Monex appears to have confidence in the firm's ability to innovate. "3iQ recently unveiled a groundbreaking development, the industry's first-ever comprehensive suite of crypto hedge fund managed accounts," Monex said, adding it "plans to leverage 3iQ's crypto-asset related product creation capabilities to maximize synergies among its group companies."Frederick T. Pye, chairman and CEO of 3iQ, said it will be collaborating with Coincheck and its 1.8 million customer accounts.While Japan lags behind Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of developing a local digital asset market, the nation's crypto industry experienced some gains this year, including efforts to provide more guidelines and regulation. In June, Japan revised the Payment Services Act to establish stablecoin-related regulations. Additionally, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, partnered with the securities and banking giant SBI Holdings in November in the hope of expanding its presence in Japan.

Monex Group Acquiring Majority Stake in Canadian Crypto Firm 3iQ Digital Holdings