Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges have seen new account openings increase up to 200% in the past two months, Cointelegraph Japan reported on May 22.
Data obtained from three major trading platforms — Bitpoint, DMM Bitcoin and Coincheck — pointed to a significant increase in interest from entry-level investors since the end of March.
The change in habits among those who assumedly did not use cryptocurrency before highlights the impact of rising prices on consumer interest, which rose in step with the return of a bull market across the industry.
Daily account openings for Bitpoint were three times as high in May as for March, and twice more than in April.
DMM saw May openings double those in March and 1.5 times more than in April, while Coincheck likewise saw openings treble in May compared to March.
Coincheck’s PR department told Cointelegraph Japan that the local peak occurred on May 14, which saw seven times more accounts coming online than on the average day in March.
The data corresponds to Bitcoin prices between $3,750 and $4,150 in March, while May 14 saw BTC/USD trade around $8,250.
As Cointelegraph reported, it was not just Japan’s exchange sector that capitalized on the resurgence. This week, Kraken unleashed an equity sale which has gained over €8 million ($9.3 million) in two days.
Prior to that, a so-called initial exchange offering by fellow exchange Bitfinex meanwhile sold $1 billion of tokens to private investors.