Former Deutsche Bank FX Dealer Moves to Cryptocurrency Exchange

Another institutional trader has clambered aboard the cryptocurrency train. According to Bloomberg, Yasuo Matsuda has joined FXcoin from German investment bank, Deutsche Bank AG, as a senior cryptocurrency strategist.

Matsuda is not the first Deutsche Bank alumnus to join the cryptocurrency firm. In fact, FXcoin was founded by Tomoo Onishi. Having obtained a PhD in economics from Matsuyama university, Onishi spent almost 13 years as a Managing Director in Deutsche Bank AG’s FX division.

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After leaving the investment bank in 2017, he founded FXcoin. Since then, he has brought in a swathe of former institutional employees. Aside from Deutsche Bank, FXcoin now has former Nomura, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and HSBC workers in its ranks.

Regulatory Approval needed, Deutsche Bank Strategist on-board

As exciting as all of this may be, FXcoin still needs regulatory approval. The firm wants to operate as an exchange for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. In order for that to happen, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) – a Japanese regulator – needs to give the firm its approval.

The current status of FXcoin’s application with the regulator is unclear. Unlike many regulatory bodies, the FSA does have a system in place to give approval to cryptocurrency exchanges.

The FSA may, however, be reticent about handing out such licenses. In January of this year, another Japanese exchange, Coincheck, lost $500 million in assets after its systems were hacked. Whether that has made the FSA rethink its decision making process remains to be seen.

For now, the FXcoin website is comprised mostly of analysis and educational content. According to Bloomberg, Onishi will be posting his own analysis on the website. This will include his own charts and technical analysis.

Alongside this, Taisuke Tanaka will be providing FXcoin with articles twice a month. Tanaka was formerly Head of Fixed-Income Research and Chief FX strategist at Deutsche Bank in Japan.