Data center operator Colt Technology Services is teaming up with virtual currency specialist BITPoint Japan to strengthen its security while hawking its technology to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Colt says that its offering will provide BITPoint with IT infrastructure and an end-to-end institutional-grade proposition to strengthen its security while reducing the costs and human resources necessary for system management.
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The partnership will see BITPoint leverage Colt’s technology solutions to handle increasing trading volumes, as well as expectations from institutional investors and regulatory requirements.
“By entrusting maintenance and management to Colt’s managed device services, BITPoint was able to greatly reduce the costs and human resources necessary for system maintenance,” a joint statement further explains.
Colt’s potential value to BITPoint is noteworthy. The new advancement further validates Colt’s offering to support the crypto space with different solutions used by established financial markets, and with its track record in mainstream marketplaces, it can offer a competitive solution with short time-to-market.
While BITPoint operates as a bitcoin exchange, it’s also pushing to promote the use of the cryptocurrency in stores and other retail outlets, instead of as a speculative instrument.
Colt offers B2B network and communication services to online trading companies in Europe, Asia, and North America, and has headquarters in London.
Japan Scrutinizes the Country’s Cryptocurrency Industry
The news comes as Japan’s watchdogs continue to challenge exchanges to prove their security credentials in the wake of Coincheck’s $530 million hack in January. The huge scale of recent hacks led the regulator to begin on-site inspections on all cryptocurrency operators, which then revealed a host of problems with security, corporate governance, and internal controls.
Several crypto venues have opted to exit the Japanese market as a result of FSA inspections and requests, as they thought they would be unable to meet the regulator’s endless demands.
However, many cryptocurrency enthusiasts look at Japan’s crackdown as a sign that the country is building an environment in which they can feel safe in pumping their investments and store crypto assets with these exchanges.
Japan has long been seen as a global cryptocurrency capital, with trading volumes on its local exchanges reaching dizzying heights. With the exponential increase in prices last year, the number of market participants also ramped up.
Overall, 2018 was a watershed year for the virtual asset class in Japan. A recent survey by Japan’s FSA confirmed that just under 3.5 million investors had holdings in at least one cryptocurrency.