FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange owned by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has said that it will be acquiring the Japanese rival Liquid for an undisclosed amount. 

The firm explained that it had made a deal to acquire Liquid and all its subsidiaries including Quoine Corporation and its Singapore-based unit. Quoin was one of the earliest crypto exchanges to obtain registration with Japan’s Financial Services Agency in 2017. 

FTX said that it is expecting the acquisition of Liquid to close by March 2022. The deal requires regulatory and shareholder approval. 

“Following FTX’s acquisition of Liquid, Quoine will gradually integrate FTX’s products and services into its own offering, and FTX’s existing Japanese customers will be migrated to Quoine’s platform,” Liquid said in a statement Wednesday.

“In connection with this acquisition, FTX has also entered into an agreement with Liquid to provide its existing Japanese users with services in compliance with Japanese laws, and will transfer its existing Japanese users to Quoine.”

FTX announced this week it had raised $400 million at a $32 billion valuation. The company is expanding ambitiously in the Asian crypto market as the competition in the industry is becoming fierce.

In an interview with CNBC, Bankman-Fried said that his company is focusing on acquiring licenses in several countries. Meanwhile, traditional lenders such as Japan’s SBI and Singapore’s DBS have been working to capitalize on crypto’s massive growth.

SBI is a minority shareholder in a number of crypto start-ups, including the $15 billion company Ripple, while DBS has set up its own digital asset exchange.