In Japan Financial service giant SBI Holdings has announced that their new crypto exchange is now live, as reported on June 4.

By the name “VCTRADE” the service is now opened for about 2000 users, who registered on the platform beforehand in October 2017. The normal account will be opened for registration in July 2018. Ripple (XRP) as of now is the only supported digital currency, though the plan is to add Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in the nearest future.

As Cointelegraph Japan reported, the new trading platform will adopt NASDAQ’s operation system (matching system). There will be no trading fees. However, withdrawals will be subject to charges. SBI has also said it will cooperate with SECOM Group on preparing a crypto wallet management security system.

The preparation for the launch took quite a long time. At first, the company revealed its plans to create a new crypto platform in October 2016. In 2017 it was announced that SBI will partner with major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi.

Alongside VCTRADE, SBI has this year been pursuing a massive test of Ripple’s blockchain-powered real-time settlement system in a major venture that involves around 38 banks, along with at least 23 more involved in wider testing of blockchain transactions. The majority of participating banks are reportedly based in Japan.