Mercoin, Inc. — Japan crypto-asset exchange operator overview

Wiki route

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00030号 · JVCEA member #1039 · registration date 2022-06-17

1. Corporation / shareholders

• Trade name: Mercoin, Inc. / Mercoin, Inc.
• Established: 2021年4月28日
• Head-office location: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-chome 10-ban 1号, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• Parent company: a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercari, Inc. (TSE Prime 4385)
• Affiliated company: Merpay, Inc. (an in-group fintech sister company)
• The official company page reviewed on 2026-07-29 did not identify a capital figure. This entry does not infer ownership beyond the parent company’s description of Mercoin as a wholly owned subsidiary

2. License / registration status

• Crypto-asset exchange business: Director-General of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau 第00030号 (registration date 2022-06-17)
• Financial instruments business: no registration indication was identified in the company, FSA, and JVCEA materials reviewed on 2026-07-29. This does not establish that no such registration exists
• Electronic payment instruments business: no registration indication was identified in the same reviewed materials. This does not establish that no such registration exists
• JVCEA membership: Type I, crypto-asset exchange business only (member number 1039)

3. Handled currencies

• Assets offered directly by Mercoin: three, confirmed on 2026-07-29
  • Bitcoin (BTC) — handling started 2023-03
  • Ethereum (ETH) — added 2024-05-21
  • XRP — added 2025-04-24
• Brokered Coincheck transactions: from 2026-06-08, Mercoin began intermediating access in the Mercari app to 12 assets traded with Coincheck: DOGE, SHIB, BCH, LINK, SAND, AVAX, XLM, DOT, MANA, LTC, GRT, and PEPE. Users open a Coincheck account, and Coincheck is the transaction counterparty.
• The app therefore provides access to 15 assets in total, but Mercoin’s three directly offered assets must be distinguished legally and operationally from the 12 assets for which Coincheck is the counterparty.
• Mercoin’s three directly offered assets use a broker format. Product terms for the Coincheck-intermediated assets follow the Coincheck account and transaction conditions.
• Leveraged trading / derivatives: no offering was identified in the official service announcements reviewed on 2026-07-29. Check the current product and contract information

4. Business scope

• Direct Mercoin spot broker service: buying and selling BTC, ETH, and XRP.
• Intermediation with Coincheck: an in-app path for opening a Coincheck account and trading 12 assets; Mercoin acts as intermediary and Coincheck as counterparty.
• Crypto-asset accumulation function: BTC (started 2024-08-01), ETH (started 2024-10-22). Supports automatic deduction from the Merpay balance (2024-12), added a daily-accumulation function (2025-07-31)
• Bitcoin payment: Bitcoin payment in shopping within Mercari (started 2024-02-15)
• Point-granting function: grants monthly Mercari points simply by holding eligible crypto assets (started 2024-12-18)
• Fiat-currency deposit channel: Merpay-balance charging (bank / ATM transfer); direct purchase with Mercari sales proceeds / Mercari points is the biggest characteristic
• Corporate trading and staking are discussed only to the extent covered by official service announcements checked on 2026-07-29; this entry does not make an open-ended absence claim.

5. Market share / trading volume

• 2024-04 (approximately one year after launch): the company reported more than two million users, a dated figure.
• 2023-10 (seven months after launch): the company reported more than one million users, a dated figure.
• 2024-05: citing an MMD Labo survey, the company announced that it ranked No. 1 for crypto-asset accounts opened during the preceding year. The claim is limited to that survey period and definition and is not a current rank.
• The official materials reviewed do not provide current, comparable monthly trading volume or assets under custody.
• Customer base: individual retail centered on existing Mercari users (smartphone users). Designed for small-amount purchases from 1 円
• The documented distinction is the in-app path using Mercari sales proceeds, points, and Merpay balances, together with Coincheck intermediation. No current domestic rank is assigned. Its retail ecosystem linkage forms the JP CEX points-economy integration pattern alongside Rakuten Wallet.

6. History / major incidents

The table is limited to corporate, registration, and service milestones confirmed on Mercoin’s official company and news pages and in the FSA and JVCEA registers. User counts and “No. 1” claims are dated to their announcement or survey period and are not current rankings. ^[Sources: https://about.mercoin.com/about/; https://about.mercoin.com/news/20230309_bitcoin/; https://about.mercoin.com/news/20250805coincheck/; https://about.mercoin.com/news/20260608_mercoin/; https://jvcea.or.jp/member/; https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyoj/kasoutuka.xlsx.]

• In Mercoin’s news, FSA materials, and JVCEA information checked on 2026-07-29, no administrative disposition against Mercoin or major asset outflow was identified. This is a bounded review, not a guarantee of future absence.

7. Strategic developments

• Coincheck intermediation: after the 2025-08-05 partnership announcement, the Mercari app added Coincheck account opening and access to 12 Coincheck assets on 2026-06-08. These remain distinct from assets offered directly by Mercoin.
• Directly offered assets: BTC (2023), ETH (2024-05), and XRP (2025-04).
• Expansion of the accumulation function: the accumulation targets expanded from BTC → ETH, with a daily-accumulation option added (2025-07)
• XJPY / XUSD industry-wide stablecoin: announced participation in joint study with Ginco, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust, and Progmat in 2023-11 (commercialization schedule, etc. not disclosed)
• The positioning as the fintech three pillars of the Mercari group (Merpay: payment / remittance / credit / Mercard: credit card / Mercoin: crypto assets) is clear. Mercoin is positioned as the core of the blockchain / Web 3 strategy

8. Related persons

• Representative Director / CEO: Keita Nakamura — assumed office 2023-04 . Joined Mercari as a new graduate (2018), R&4D blockchain engineer → Merpay → via Mercoin CPO
• Director / CRCO: Masahiro Shidachi — former Nomura HD global-risk-management MD. Joined 2023-09 , 2024-07 current position
• Director / CTO: Takahito Yamatoya — former bitFlyer executive officer, head of the system-development division
• Director / CISO: Yuki Saito
• Directors: Takeshi Nagasawa (former bitFlyer executive officer), Masato Yamamoto (former Merpay Representative Director / CEO), Toshiya Kimura, Naohisa Ichihara (assumed office 2025-05 )

Related

• japan-financial-regulation — Japanese financial regulation overall
• japan-bittrade-listing-process — general theory of the listing process (distinct from the listing activities of individual companies)
• japan-stablecoin-regulatory-landscape — related stablecoin system
• jp-trust-type-sc-architecture — related SC system
• jp-cex-points-economy-integration — JP CEX point-economy integration (Mercari-point linkage)
• progmat — Progmat stablecoin platform
• jp-vasp-parent-company-map — JP VASP parent-company map

Sources

• Mercoin corporate site (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Mercoin company overview and management (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Mercoin news (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Launch of the Bitcoin service, 2023-03-09 (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Business partnership with Coincheck (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Launch of intermediation for 12 Coincheck assets (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• JVCEA member list (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• FSA crypto-asset exchange operator registration list Excel (snapshot 令和8年4月1日 = 2026-04-01)