Coincheck.jp, a Japan-based bitcoin exchange, has announced its support for Ether on its platform. In addition to bitcoin, users will now be able to buy, sell and manage Ether in their Coincheck wallet.

Co-founder Yusuke Otsuka told Bitcoin.com, “Bitcoin was all about money. We hope Ethereum will be everything other than money (e.g. real estate). Therefore, it’s natural for us to support Ether . . . eventually, we will add FOREX like features to Ether trading as well.”

The process of purchasing Ether is similar to that of bitcoin and can be purchased via bank transfer. Coincheck plans to add the option of buying Ether using credit cards in the future.

The news comes at time when the cryptocurrency ecosystem is optimistic about Ethereum. It has shown tremendous growth in just a few months and its market cap hit $1 billion mark recently. Hong Kong bitcoin exchange Bitfinex has also added Ether trading to its platform.

“Volatility is natural for a new technology where everyone has mixed feelings of anxiety and anticipation. Bitcoin was also volatile but it [has] become the most popular cryptocurrency in the world,” Otsuka added. “Ether may follow the same path with bitcoins, but nobody knows.”

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference. Ether is the internal 'fuel' – the currency unit of Ethereum – used to pay for computational services on the network.

The decision to add ether trading follows the recent announcement by Coincheck that it will offer bitcoin payment service to DMM.com , an online entertainment site that has 19,000,000 users. The service will enable DMM.com users to buy DMM points with bitcoins, which can then exchanged with contents and services such as video, e-books, online game, VR VR theater tickets, English tutoring service etc provided by DMM.com.