GMO Coin adds Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum to virtual currency offering

Traders can now buy and sell Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) using GMO Coin’s platform.

In line with an earlier report by FinanceFeeds, about plans by GMO Coin, the virtual currency business of GMO Internet Inc. (TYO:9449), to expand its virtual currency offering, the company announced today the addition of Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to the lineup.

According to the announcement, traders can now buy and sell Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) using GMO Coin’s platform. The move happens after earlier this month, GMO Coin made BCH withdrawals available to its clients.

The addition of new trading instruments to the offering is made in response to client demands, the company noted in its announcement. It also underlined that the market for virtual currencies, including virtual currencies other than Bitcoin, has enjoyed a rise in its capitalization. It is not surprising, then, that GMO Coin plans further additions to its offering, including Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). The addition of LTC and ETC is scheduled for October 2017, whereas the Ripple is set to become available in November this year.

The company also intends to make leveraged trading with these currencies available at some point this year.

In the meantime, GMO Internet is planning to launch a Bitcoin mining business in the first half of 2018.

The company will run a mining center utilizing renewable energy and cutting-edge semiconductor chips in Northern Europe. It will use 7 nm process technology for chips to be used in the mining process, and will co-operate on its research and development and manufacturing with an alliance partner having the necessary semiconductor design technology.

GMO Internet would not elaborate on the amount of expenses related to the launch and the necessary technology development but it said these expenses will be more than 10% of the consolidated non-current assets as of December 31, 2016 (¥3,489 million).

Another Japanese online services provider – DMM.com, has also made public its plans to establish a virtual currency mining business. The operations of the “DMM Mining Farm” are poised to commence in October.