Tokyo Financial Exchange, one of Japan's leading financial exchanges, announced that it would begin trading prepare the futures on Bitcoin in early 2018. The company some valuable business partners like JP Morgan Chase and Barclays.
The announcement suggests that the exchange will build a working group to study crypto-currencies and the potential of futures in January. The working group is the first step towards the final action and is usually a strong signal for adoption as it preceded the legislation for approval. According to CEO Shozo Ohta:
"Once the law on financial instruments and exchange will recognize cryptocurrencies as financial products, we will list the futures contracts as quickly as possible. To do this, we will launch this working group to study various aspects, including the current status of Bitcoin, its perspectives and the form it will take in Japanese society. "
The announcement fits in line with Japan's previous moves toward the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The country was one of the first to recognize Bitcoin as a legal payment method and was open to growing change. At present, Japan is the largest Bitcoin market in the world, with around half of all Bitcoin trades being denominated in Japanese Yen.