Liquid, the cryptocurrency marketplace system operated by Japanese startup Quoine, has partnered with Virtual Currency Partners (VCP), a venture capital group composed of fintech and crypto investors and entrepreneurs, to establish a jointly-owned entity called Liquid Financial USA Inc. (Liquid USA). The latest enterprise will focus on expanding Liquid’s offerings into the US, Quoine noted on Monday. Liquid USA’s offices are located in New York, NY, and Atlanta, GA, and it is now building out its team with expectation to begin onboarding US customers by January 2020. The launch of Liquid USA, “the culmination of hard work, strong investor backing, and deep domain knowledge,” according to Quoine, follows the organization’s undisclosed Series C funding round which brought its valuation to more than US$1 billion. Quoine noted it will launch its Liquid system in the US via its holding enterprise Liquid Group Inc., founded in March 2019. Liquid USA’s plans call for a complete offering of Liquid’s products to the US market, subject to US regulatory approvals. Pending those regulatory approvals, Liquid USA plans to make Liquid’s native token, QASH, available for utility and trading to US customers. The organization is registered as a Money Service Business with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). “The US is one of the world’s largest markets for cryptocurrency and we have secured widespread expressions of interest from our community, corporate and institutional customers to serve the US market,” remarked Mike Kayamori, co-founder and CEO of Quoine. “This joint venture and the acquisition of IQX represents our commitment to expand in the US, and we look forward to working closely with Virtual Currency Partners to accelerate our service growth. I am personally honored and excited to be working again with Barry Schiffman, the co-founder and former executive managing director at Globespan Capital Partners, a mentor of mine from my days at Globespan dating back to 2003.” Schiffman, the chairman of VCP, has over 30 years of experience in investing in high-growth companies. He served as the executive managing director of JAFCO Ventures, the US arm of prominent Japan venture capital fund JAFCO, before co-founding Globespan Capital Partners. “After nearly a year of studying the cryptocurrency space and researching a number of players, we were extremely impressed with Liquid and the strong foundation it built for itself as Japan’s first Financial Products Agency (FSA)-approved cryptocurrency marketplace and one of the top 5 cryptocurrency exchanges in the world,” stated Schiffman. “I am pleased to be working with Mike again, building upon our relationship from Globespan. We are excited to join the Liquid family and to lead its expansion into the US.” Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Tokyo, Quoine is a crypto startup and the operator of the Liquid crypto system. Liquid provides trading, marketplace, and related financial products powered by blockchain technology. In 2017, Quoine obtained US$105 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) to fund the development of the Liquid trading platform and ecosystem. As part of the Liquid roadmap, the organization is developing a range of latest capabilities and offerings including a blockchain which will allow other fintech companies to build their products and offerings on blockchain technology (DLT). Quoine has offices in Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and now the US, and employs more than 300 people.