Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has added its first two altcoins to its recently launched over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk, Cointelegraph Japan reported on April 15.
Coincheck, which began operating its OTC service with Bitcoin (BTC) at the start of the month, now also offers Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP), the second and third largest cryptocurrencies by market cap respectively.
OTC desks offer specialized services for large-volume traders, allowing them to save on fees and skirt what would otherwise be considerable hurdles purchasing or selling major crypto investments via standard methods.
The feature has become popular among major exchanges worldwide, Cointelegraph previously reporting on their continued emergence despite the ongoing crypto bear market.
According to a blog post from Coincheck today, the company will also consider adding further altcoins to its OTC desk in due course, but did not hint as to which it would prioritize.
Coincheck has gone from strength to strength following its takeover by online broker Monex Group last April.
After redressing issues resulting from its giant half-billion-dollar hack in January 2018, Monex succeeded in gaining a Japanese regulatory license for Coincheck to continue serving customers in December 2018.
In Q3, according to a financial report released at the end of January, Coincheck had already halved its losses compared to the previous quarter.
Japan continues to become a hotbed of crypto trading business activity, with investment outfit ST Blockchain Fund today announcing that it had pumped $200 million into the parent company of Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest exchange platforms.