Japan’s Coincheck acquires Metaps Alpha to expand its NFT marketplace

TL;DR Breakdown:

• Coincheck has acquired an NFT-focused blockchain company, Metaps Alpha.
• The exchange plans to debut both an on-chain and off-chain marketplace for NFTs.

Leading Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck, has acquired an NFT-focused blockchain company, Metaps Alpha, as part of its effort to expand its services to support non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The exchange has since been collaborating with companies, including NFTs issuers, to debut a marketplace that will support the emerging asset class. In addition to acquiring Metaps Alpha, the exchange also plans to set up an off-chain NFT marketplace.

Coincheck now owns Metaps Alpha

Metaps Alpha is the blockchain company behind Miime, an on-chain NFT marketplace. Following the development today, it’s now a subsidiary of Coincheck, given that the exchange acquired 100 percent of the shares, per the press statement on Friday. The acquisition comes as part of the exchange’s efforts to debut a marketplace for non-fungible tokens. NFTs are simply cryptographic tokens that represent unique assets.

While Miime NFTs transactions are performed on-chain, the Japanese exchange also intends to launch a marketplace that will run off-chain. It explained that there could be challenges when trying to scale-up the marketplace on Ethereum due to the increase in activities on the blockchain. Hence, in addition to running an on-chain marketplace, it will equally debut an off-chain to better support NFTs businesses in Japan and other countries.

NFTs are gaining traction

The non-fungible token’s market is gradually becoming popular in the cryptocurrency space at large. One of the famous American YouTubers and podcasters, Logan Paul, recently partnered with Bondly Finance to release non-fungible tokens for his ‘Pokemon Box Break.’ Last year, Coincheck announced that Cryptokitties, a popular blockchain game, will be among the major NFTs to list on its upcoming marketplace.