KDDI Buys a Piece of Japan’s Crypto Market

KDDI, one of the biggest phone companies in Japan, is buying 14. 9 % of Coincheck Group for $65 million. The deal means KDDI will own 28. 5 million new shares at $2. 28 each, and it should finish in June. Coincheck said the purchase is part of a larger partnership. Both firms will share customers, split revenue and pay referral fees. The goal is to make crypto easier for everyday people by using KDDI’s phone and internet services along with Coincheck’s trading, storage, staking and asset‑management tools.KDDI has been exploring crypto and Web3 for a while. In 2023 it launched αU, a metaverse platform that includes an NFT marketplace and crypto wallet. It also teamed up with HashPort, a Japanese Web3 wallet maker, to let users turn Ponta loyalty points into stablecoins or crypto and then into au PAY gift cards. Because of the share purchase, KDDI will have registration rights and can put one non‑executive director on Coincheck’s board at the next annual meeting, likely in September. Coincheck’s parent company is based in the Netherlands and will list on Nasdaq under CNCK later this year. The group has been growing its institutional crypto services, including buying the digital‑asset prime broker Aplo.