World's First Bank-Backed Crypto Exchange Opens to the Public

The world's first bank-backed cryptocurrency exchange is now open to the public after months of delays.

Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings formally launched its in-house crypto trading platform, dubbed VCTRADE, last month. In fact, the trading service was only available for a group of selected users who pre-registered with the platform last October.

In an announcement released on Tuesday, SBI Holdings said the service is now fully open for users aged from 20–70 who reside in Japan. However, a registration service for corporate customers has not yet been made available.

At its June launch, VCTRADE announced it will initially support trading of Japanese yen against XRP, the native token of the Ripple protocol – a move that aligns with the institution's wider support for XRP in cross-border blockchain settlement.