Kakao Piccoma, a Japanese online comic book subscription service and also a subsidiary of South Korean company Kakao, has acquired a 50% controlling stake in Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC), a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange.
According to a local newspaper, this makes Kakao the largest shareholder of the exchange. The acquisition is also aimed at helping Kakao provide services on its Piccoma comic platform and expand into Web3. Piccoma is the largest network comic platform in Japan, and by 2021, customer transactions on the app will reach $1 billion after six years in the Japanese market.
Kakao has not revealed how much it paid for its stake in the exchange.
SEBC is one of only 30 cryptocurrency exchanges registered with Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA). The exchange also includes 11 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, and Litecoin (LTC).
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In mid-March 2022, Kim Beom-so, the founder of Kakao, also known as Brian Kim, resigned from the board to focus on the company's affiliate brands, especially the Kakao Piccoma brand in Japan. The acquisition of SEBC is Kakao's first acquisition and merger since Kim's resignation.
Kakao has previously shown interest in the cryptocurrency sector. In September 2021, Kakao launched two Blockchain companies in Singapore, klaytn foundation, a non-profit organization, and Krust, a service that improves the use of blockchain technology globally.
Kakao also runs a blockchain specialist company called Ground X. The company won the central bank's digital currency (CBDC) bid from the Bank of Korea in July 2021, becoming the main technology provider for blockchain-based digital won simulations.
Prior to that, the company was also an early investor of the Upbit exchange, the first cryptocurrency exchange to register under South Korean financial regulations.
