Gaia Co., Ltd. — Japan crypto-asset exchange operator overview

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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it with FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for adjacent context and Japan Financial Regulation — Legal Framework for Tokens, Crypto Assets, and Payments for the broader system boundary.

FSA registration number Kinki Local Finance Bureau 第00004号 · JVCEA member #1034 · registration date 2021-06-18

1. Entity · shareholders

• Trade name: 株式会社ガイア
• Founded: 2007年12月25日 (corporate-organization change)
• Head-office location: 〒550-0002 Osaka, Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku, Edobori 2-1-1 , Edobori Center Building 9F
• Osaka office: Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku, Shinmachi 1-28-3 , Yotsubashi Grand Square 9F
• Tokyo office: Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Iwamotocho 3-3-3 , Akihabara Southern Building 5F
• Capital: 2,990万円
• Number of employees: 15名 (disclosed)
• Parent company: Gaia Holdings Co., Ltd. (established 2021年2月, to which businesses other than the crypto-asset exchange business were transferred)
• Listing status: unlisted

2. License · registration status

• Crypto-asset exchange business: Director-General of the Kinki Local Finance Bureau 第00004号 (registration date 2021-06-18)
• JVCEA Type 1 member: #1034 (joined as Type 2 in 2021年1月 → changed category to Type 1 in 6 of the same year)
• No registration for financial-instruments business · electronic-payment-instruments transaction business · funds-transfer business (within the scope of disclosed information)
• The FSA list places the company under the Kinki Local Finance Bureau. Do not freeze a changing national operator count or jurisdictional rank; consult the latest FSA source and FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements

3. Handled currencies

• Number of handled assets: the official BTM installation notice dated 2026-05-26 lists three assets
• Supported tokens: BTC (Bitcoin), ETH (Ethereum), ADA (Cardano)
• Review boundary: BTC, ETH, and ADA are based on the handled-assets section of that notice. Current buy/sell directions and transfer availability are governed by the current BTM and web-exchange terms

4. Business scope

• Flagship service: the BTM (Bitcoin Teller Machine) crypto-asset exchange machine. At launch in August 2022, the company described it as Japan’s first; that is a historical company claim, not a statement of current exclusivity or market rank (compare COINHUB)
• BTM: JPY ↔ BTC / ETH buy / sell, with ADA buy only. Maximum 10万円 per 1 transaction.
• WEB exchange service: online exchange not requiring a BTM (accepted 24 hours, supporting buy / sell of BTC / ETH / ADA)
• Inbound support: a flow using an ICAO-compliant IC passport without advance user registration. This does not mean identity checks are absent; eligible transactions and limits are governed by the current terms
• BTM unit sales: a sales scheme for BTM units is offered to partners
• Fiat deposit channels: cash banknotes (ATM insertion) or bank-account transfer
• Margin / derivatives / staking / NFTs / crypto-asset lending: no offering was shown in the official service pages and terms reviewed on 2026-07-29

5. Market share · trading volume

• Among the Gaia, FSA, and JVCEA materials identified in this review as of 2026-07-29, no account-count or trading-volume disclosure was identified. This does not establish that no such disclosure exists
• Published BTM installations include the first in Osaka in August 2022, the second in Tokyo in September, the third in November, and a fourth at Travel Hub Namba on May 26, 2026. These are historical installation counts and do not establish that every machine is simultaneously operating
• The May 1, 2026 suspension notice concerned the BTM inside Tokyo Tower and explicitly said the Tokyo office service continued. A new Namba BTM started service on May 26, so the notice should not be described as a suspension of every BTM
• Public services address BTM and web-exchange users, including an IC-passport flow for visitors; no market-share rank is inferred

6. History · major incidents

The table below is limited to corporate, registration, and service milestones confirmed through Gaia’s official company profile and news, the FSA registry, and the JVCEA list. “Japan’s first BTM” is the wording of the company’s August 2022 launch announcement, not a current market ranking.^[Sources: https://www.gaia-btm.com/company/; https://www.gaia-btm.com/news/2022/20220802843/; https://www.gaia-btm.com/news/2026/202605011326/; https://www.gaia-btm.com/news/2026/202605261333/; https://jvcea.or.jp/member/.]

7. Strategic developments

• The official service presents a partner-sales scheme for BTM units and installation with other operators
• The visitor flow permits use without advance registration by checking an IC passport; it should not be described as identity-verification-free
• A new BTM began service at Travel Hub Namba on May 26, 2026. This should be read separately from the May 1 temporary suspension of the Tokyo Tower machine
• A July 8, 2026 official warning explains user-protection responses to scams and financial crime involving BTM or web-exchange use directed by third parties

8. Related people

• Representative Director: Motohiro Ogura (disclosed)
• Director / COO: Hitomi Watanabe (Chief Operating Officer)
• Director: Naoki Tsujimoto (in charge of the systems division)
• Director: Tsutomu Kanazawa (in charge of internal control)
• Auditor: Masahiko Dan
• Advisor (business strategy): Kimihiro Mine (took office 2021年9月)

Related

• japan-financial-regulation — Japanese financial regulation overall
• japan-bittrade-listing-process — general theory of the token-listing process
• japan-stablecoin-regulatory-landscape — related stablecoin regime
• jp-trust-type-sc-architecture — related SC regime
• jp-vasp-aml-travel-rule-implementation — JP VASP AML / travel rule (ATM · inbound)
• jp-crypto-merchant-payment-lightning — JP crypto merchant payment (cash touchpoint)
• jp-exchange-coinhub — peer COINHUB (ATM operator)

Sources

• 株式会社ガイア company profile (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• Gaia BTM service site (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• JVCEA member list (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• FSA crypto-asset exchange operator registration list Excel (snapshot 令和8年4月1日 = 2026-04-01)
• Gaia news list 2022年 (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• Gaia news list 2021年 (retrieved 2026-05-18)
• Launch of services under the crypto-asset exchange registration and first BTM announcement (2022-08-02)
• Temporary suspension of the Tokyo Tower BTM (2026-05-01)
• Fourth domestic BTM installed at Travel Hub Namba (2026-05-26)
• Warning about scams and trouble involving crypto assets (2026-07-08)