On April 30, Ripple announced a partnership with HashKey Group, furthering its collaboration with financial services giant SBI Group. The joint venture with HashKey DX, a Tokyo-based specialized consulting company of the HashKey Group, aims to introduce XRP Ledger (XRPL) enterprise solutions to the Japanese market. HashKey DX will deploy supply chain finance solutions to...Read More
Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), managing a staggering $1.5 trillion, has initiated inquiries into diversifying its portfolio, eyeing assets like Bitcoin in addition to gold, forests, and farmland. The latest move is a call for information and doesn’t signify an immediate expansion of investment targets, including Bitcoin. World’s Largest Pension Fund Explores Bitcoin Founded...Read More
Bitcoin climbed by nearly 20% this week, surpassing the $1 trillion market cap for the first time since November 2021, owing to the continued inflows to the newly launched spot ETFs earlier this year. Following this milestone, BTC hit an all-time high against a few depreciating fiat currencies, including the Japanese Yen. In fact, Bitcoin...Read More
SBI Holdings, Inc., a leading Tokyo-based financial services firm, has announced its strategic partnership with Circle Internet Financial, the USD Coin (USDC) issuer. This collaboration aims to increase the circulation of USDC and promote the use of Circle’s cutting-edge Web3 services in Japan while establishing a banking relationship. SBI and Circle’s Partnership This agreement, formalized...Read More
SBI Holdings, a prominent Japanese financial company, is preparing to launch a $663 million fund supporting Web3, AI, and other fintech startups. The fund is slated to invest in 150-200 companies and is anticipated to begin operations by the current year’s end, as Nikkei Shimbun reported. Japan’s Startup Fund Momentum with Major Backing The SBI...Read More
In a heartwarming tribute to one of the internet’s most iconic dogs, the Dogecoin community fundraised for a bronze statue of Kabosu, the Japanese Shiba Inu that inspired the beloved Doge meme and the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. The crowdfunding campaign, launched on Kabosu’s 17th birthday on Nov. 2, 2022, will end with the unveiling of the...Read More
Eastern Asia ranks as the fifth most active crypto market, contributing 8.8% of global digital asset activity between July 2022 and June 2023. Its decline over the last few years has been notable – largely propelled by the big blow to the Chinese trading activity and mining sector. Chainlysis’ latest analysis signals a potential tailwind...Read More
The Japanese cryptocurrency exchange GMO Coin, which operates under the umbrella of the IT giant GMO Internet Group, vowed to distribute SGB tokens to certain XRP investors by the end of this month. In the following lines, we will outline the exact amount of distribution each investor should expect, as well as other essential details...Read More
The Japanese subsidiary of Binance will reportedly provide trading services with additional digital currencies in the near future. The crypto behemoth re-entered the Land of the Rising Sun earlier this summer after departing in 2018 due to regulatory problems. According to a Bloomberg coverage, Binance Japan will soon increase the number of supported cryptocurrencies on...Read More
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance – will purportedly launch services on its new platform in Japan next month. The firm pulled out of the Land of the Rising Sun in 2018 after having a major dispute with the local regulators. Binance’s CEO – Changpeng Zhao (CZ) – has supposedly confirmed the news in a...Read More
Japan’s National Tax Agency published a partial revision of its corporate tax guidelines on June 20. They include a new set of rules for digital token issuers scrapping the previous taxes on unrealized gains from crypto assets issued by companies. The new tax rules would “make it easier for cryptocurrency-related companies to do business in...Read More
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) – the largest finance institution in Japan – is reportedly considering issuing global stablecoins via its blockchain platform. The bank has previously revealed plans to introduce such tokens tied to the value of the Japanese yen. MUFG’s New Crypto Idea As reported by Bloomberg, the entity is in talks with industry...Read More
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance – aims to begin operating on the Japanese market after June this year. This will mark the company’s return to the Land of the Rising Sun after leaving in 2018 due to regulatory issues. Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) announced that Binance Japan will start providing services and products to...Read More
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) issued a warning letter to four leading cryptocurrency platforms (Bitget, Bybit, MEXC Global, and BitForex) for failing to receive proper registration. The watchdog alerted in 2021 that Bybit had started offering services without obtaining the necessary licenses. The FSA’s Latest Warning The Japanese regulator maintained in a recent letter that the...Read More
Polkadot’s leading parachain and innovative hub, Astar Network, has partnered with Tokyo’s special ward Shibuya to support the city’s Web3 initiative. According to a press release sent to CryptoPotato, the partnership will see Astar and Shibuya team up to foster the development of Tokyo’s Web3 strategy. Astar Network Partners Shibuya City As per the release,...Read More
The Japanese arm of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX announced that it would resume the withdrawal function for customers. This comes less than a month to when the order for the platform to suspend its business takes effect. According to a press release on Monday (Feb. 20, 2023), FTX Japan stated that customers will be able...Read More
The FTX Group of companies undergoing bankruptcy proceedings extended the preliminary bid deadline for its Japan and Europe affiliates as administrators scramble to raise funds to help pay back creditors. According to the Bloomberg report, the court filing said the new deadline has been set for March 8, while the auction date has been moved...Read More
Crypto exchange giant Coinbase becomes the latest firm to stop operations in Japan, citing unfavorable market conditions. The US-based company has conducted a series of job cuts in the last seven months, with the latest downsizing happening earlier in January 2023. In a blog post on Wednesday (January 18, 2023), Coinbase announced that users in...Read More
FTX Japan, the Japanese division of the bankrupt crypto exchange, plans to re-enable customers’ withdrawals in mid-February next year after suspending the service last month due to the bankruptcy filing of its parent company. FTX Japan earlier pledged to build a new system different from the one used by its parent company to enable customers...Read More
Kraken announced plans to shut operations in Japan again, citing a weak global crypto market as well as market conditions in the East Asian country. In a statement, the San Francisco-based crypto exchange said it will deregister from the Financial Services Agency on January 31, 2023. Kraken explained, “Current market conditions in Japan in combination...Read More
Japan became one of the first big countries to establish a legal framework for stablecoins in June. Six months later, it is taking yet another crucial step to tweak the existing ban as the Financial Services Agency (FSA) is looking to lift the ban on foreign-issued stablecoins. It is still unclear which tokens will be...Read More
The Japanese government greenlighted a bill to exempt local cryptocurrency issuers from paying corporate tax on their holdings. The ruling body currently requires such firms to pay 30% on their ownings even if they haven’t gained profits through a sale. Japan’s ruling political party – The Liberal Democratic Party – aims to ease corporate tax...Read More
The Japanese authorities reportedly extended the business suspension order to FTX Japan until March 9, 2023. Initially, the company had to cease all services on December 9. According to recent coverage, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau will grant FTX Japan three more months before halting all its activities. The final date has moved from December...Read More
Crypto exchange Binance announced the acquisition of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) for an undisclosed sum. The latter is a Japanese crypto exchange that is regulated by the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). The latest development comes just months after reports of Binance preparing for a formal entry to the Japanese market surfaced. The crypto exchange...Read More
Despite the ultimate crash of FTX, the Japanese subsidiary of the company reportedly plans to allow client withdrawals by the year’s end. The fiasco of Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange became one of the major events in crypto’s history. Once valued at approximately $32 billion, it recently failed to honor users’ withdrawal requests and reported severe liquidity...Read More
On Nov. 20, crypto market data portal CoinGecko released a report on the countries most impacted by the FTX collapse. Unsurprisingly, most are in Asia since U.S. investors were using FTX.US, not the international exchange that melted down. The report is slightly misleading, however, as it ranked the top 30 countries by monthly users, not...Read More
The leading Japanese mobile phone operator – NTT Docomo – joined forces with Accenture to invest between 500 and 600 billion yen (up to $4 billion) in the next iteration of Internet technology – Web3. The partners will also provide training courses for those interested in the field, including business leaders and engineers. Entering the...Read More
Over the weekend, Japanese local media reported that Lazarus has been attacking local crypto companies, according to the National Police Agency. The group has been using social engineering, such as sending phishing emails to employees at crypto companies or using social media to lure them into installing malware. Phishing is a technique where targeted emails...Read More
Binance is preparing for a formal entry to the Japanese market by seeking a permit to operate in the country. The renewed interest from the world’s largest crypto trading platform in Japan follows the relaxing crypto laws in the world’s third largest economy under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Binance Sets Eyes on Japan Market As...Read More
The Japanese government is handing out non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a supplementary award to local authorities that excelled in utilizing digital technology to solve local issues as well as fostering the digital economy. A total of seven mayors received NFT awards for various initiatives. As per the report from CoinPost, the tokens, which were distributed...Read More
