bitFlyer Inc. — Japan crypto-asset exchange overview

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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it with FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for adjacent context and Japan Financial Regulation — Legal Framework for Tokens, Crypto Assets, and Payments for the broader system boundary.

FSA registration number Kanto Local Finance Bureau 第00003号 · JVCEA member #1002 · registration date 2017-09-29

1. Corporation / shareholders

• Trade name: bitFlyer Inc. (English: bitFlyer Inc.)
• Established: 2014年1月9日
• Head office location: 〒107-6230 Midtown Tower, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• Capital: 41億238万円 (including capital reserve) (value posted on the official website, point in time unspecified)
• Parent company: The official company profile lists bitFlyer Holdings, Inc. as bitFlyer Inc.’s shareholder and parent, and discloses that Holdings was established on 2018-10-01 with JPY 5 billion in capital including capital reserve. ^[Source: https://bitflyer.com/ja-jp/s/company.]
• Shareholder composition (Holdings level): bitFlyer’s current official disclosures do not publish Holdings’ private cap table, so this entry does not restate 2022 press estimates of founder and minority-shareholder percentages as current 2026 holdings. The confirmed scope is that bitFlyer Holdings is bitFlyer Inc.‘s shareholder, together with the companies’ current directors and stated capital. ^[Sources: https://bitflyer.com/ja-jp/s/company; https://bitflyer.com/ja-jp/s/director-profile.]
• Accounting auditor: Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC
• Main bank: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
• Corporate number: 2011101068824

2. License / registration status

• Crypto-asset exchange business: Director-General of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau 第00003号 (registration date 2017-09-29)
• Financial instruments business: Director-General of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Kinsho) 第3294号
• JVCEA member: Type 1 #1002 — holds both crypto-asset exchange business and crypto-asset derivatives trading
• Registration for electronic-payment-instrument business / funds-transfer business is unconfirmed

3. Handled currencies

Supported assets may be added or removed, so this entry does not freeze a list or count and instead defers to bitFlyer’s current supported-assets page.

Characteristics: Offers BTC/JPY through Lightning Spot as well as crypto-asset derivatives. A ranking for a historical period is not treated as the current market ranking.

4. Scope of business

• Spot trading (sales outlet / exchange): yes (Lightning Spot)
• Derivatives (Lightning FX): yes (as a financial instruments business)
• Crypto-asset lending: unknown (cannot be officially confirmed)
• Credit card: the “bitFlyer credit card” (issued by Aplus, started 2021年12月. A type that accumulates bitcoin.)
• Fiat deposit channels: bank transfer (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, etc.), quick deposit supported (published)
• Corporate services: a “bitcoin payment service” (multiple track records including the Marui Group and IDOM)
• Point linkage: a history of linkage with T-Points, Moppy, PeX, etc.

5. Market share / trading volume

• bitFlyer has published historical, period-specific trading-volume rankings and customer-count milestones, but they are not carried forward as current figures.
• This entry has not identified official values that compare recent trading volume and account counts across companies using the same period and definition.
• Competitive position: no market rank is asserted. Current products and published statistics should be compared on the same basis with Coincheck, GMO Coin, Inc. — Japan crypto-asset exchange operator overview, bitbank, and other peers. For JVCEA self-regulation and membership, see JVCEA: Overview of the Self-Regulatory Framework.

6. History / major events

This table is limited to milestones directly confirmed in bitFlyer’s company profile, FSA and JVCEA registration records, and bitFlyer Holdings’ FTX Japan acquisition disclosures. Time-limited self-published rankings, press-only share negotiations, and officer changes without a retained source are excluded. ^[Sources: https://bitflyer.com/ja-jp/s/company; https://jvcea.or.jp/member/; https://bitflyer.com/pub/20240726-Completion-of-FTX-Japan-K.K.-Share-Acquisition-en.pdf; https://bitflyer.com/pub/20240828-The-Change-of-Company-Name-of-Consolidated-Subsidiary-ja.pdf.]

7. Strategic trends

• 2024 FTX Japan acquisition: bitFlyer Holdings announced the share-purchase agreement in June 2024, completed the acquisition of all shares on July 26, and renamed the company Custodiem on August 28. The official disclosure states a plan to develop a digital-asset custody business (see FTX Japan customer-asset 100% return case — the world's first immediate full-return case).
• Current status of overseas corporations: the overseas expansion of bitFlyer USA, Inc. (a Delaware corporation) and bitFlyer EUROPE S.A. (Luxembourg) as of 2018年 has been published, but the operating status as of 2026年5月 cannot be officially confirmed.
• Use of Tsubasa Honda in commercials: an advertising campaign featuring Tsubasa Honda from 2024年9月 (official release 2024-08-28).

8. Related figures

• Yuzo Kano — co-founder / representative director. Served as representative from the founding in 2014年, and after stepping down for a time, was reappointed in 2023年3月. A face of the industry who led the establishment of the Japan Blockchain Association (JBA).
• Takashi Komiyama — co-founder. His current role and ownership percentage are not disclosed in the official company profile, so historical press estimates are not treated as current values.
• Keisei Hirako — representative director 2019年1月〜2020年3月.
• Tomohiro Mine — representative director 2020年3月〜2021年3月.
• Kuniyoshi Hayashi — representative director 2021年3月〜2023年3月.
• Ryota Sasaki — Holdings director (as of 2024年).
• Joel Edgerton — Holdings director (as of 2024年).

Related

• japan-financial-regulation — Japanese financial regulation overall
• jp-exchange-binance-japan — peer-company overview
• jp-exchange-gmo-coin — peer-company overview
• bitflyer — bitFlyer Holdings parent-company profile
• jp-vasp-parent-company-map — JP VASP parent-company map
• jvcea-self-regulatory-overview — JVCEA self-regulatory system

Sources

• bitFlyer Inc. company overview (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• JVCEA member list (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• FSA crypto-asset exchange registration list Excel (snapshot 令和8年4月1日 = 2026-04-01)
• bitFlyer Holdings — completion of FTX Japan share acquisition (reviewed 2026-07-29)
• bitFlyer Holdings — name change to Custodiem (reviewed 2026-07-29)
• bitFlyer - Wikipedia (Japanese) (retrieved 2026-05-18, referenced as a primary-source cross-check)
• Fund ACA abandons bitFlyer HD acquisition - Nikkei (2022-09-30 reporting. Confirms the 2022年4月 shareholder composition = Kano approx. 40% / Komiyama approx. 13% / Sekisui House just under 13%, and the developments of the acquisition falling through. Retrieved 2026-05-30)
• BitFlyer Co-Founder Yuzo Kano to Return as CEO - Bloomberg (Confirms Kano holds approx. 40% / reappointed CEO 2023-03 . Retrieved 2026-05-30)
• Yuzo Kano to return as president of crypto exchange bitFlyer - CoinPost (2023-03-30 a policy of returning as representative / promoting an IPO at the general meeting. No disclosure of the post-reappointment stake. Retrieved 2026-05-30)