This wine retailer is buying the Bitcoin exchange Bitocean

The M&A market in the cryptocurrency market was quite high in 2017, when companies were looking to get an extra edge to their portfolios by acquiring promising crypto startups. At the time, the crypto market was booming, and even cryptocurrency hedge funds emerged.

While the M&A crypto frenzy has subsided since last year, when Bitcoin’s price was hitting the $20,000 mark, there is still some exciting development in the sphere.

The latest example comes from Madison Holdings Group Ltd., an investment company that is popular with selling French wines, has agreed to buy 67.2% of the Japanese Bitcoin exchange, Bitocean for $15.12 million.

Madison Holdings Group is a well-diversified investment holding company, whose valuation currently is around $545 million. Its broad portfolio includes holdings in financial advisory services, asset management, and corporate finance.

In a diversification strategy move, Madison Group will buy the majority stake in the Japanese Bitcoin-exchange through a subsidiary, Madison Labs. Bitocean has not started its trading operations, yet.

Japan is poised to become a global cryptocurrency center. After the Coincheck hack that cost $530 million to users, Japan has taken serious steps to introduce and implement sound cryptocurrency regulations that will both establish the country as a “crypto-friendly” global power, and as a cautious crypto regulator.

All exchanges that want to operate in Japan go through a lengthy, rigorous application process with the Financial Services Authority. In addition, Japan has a a self-regulatory cryptocurrency body called the Virtual Currency Exchange Association.

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