With so much dissapointing news coming out of Asia from China's ban on ICOs to South Korea's moves to do the same, it is great to see one large Asian country taking positive steps. Japan's Financial Services Authority (FSA) made an announcement last Friday that they would be endorsing 11 cryptocurrency exchanges.
Many Bitcoiners will admit that this is a step in the positive direction becuase it will increse the liquidity of cryptocurrency markets. A CEO of one of the exchanges that was endorsed, Yuzo Kano claimed that the open stance taken by the FSA as well as the great interest in Japan for trading cryptocurrencies would result in large volume increases. Bitflyer would make the most of the endorsement by leveraging its current user base.
A Growing Trend
This is not the only positive news out of Japan on Bitcoin. Earlier this year the government made Bitcoin a nationally accepted quasi currency. This created the impetus for numerous companies in Japan to start accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment. For example, a travel agency started accepting Bitcoin through their Bitflyer initiative.
The mass adoption in Japan goes beyond just travel agents. A group of 120 banks are examining ways in which they can implement blockchain solutions on their current infrastructure. The idea would be to use their own token called J-Coin. In an article by MIT, J-Coin was explained as
The idea for J-Coin is that it would sit alongside the Japanese yen, exchanged at a one-to-one rate, and be offered as a free service. In return, the banks that operate it would get detailed data on how people use it
The potential affects of all these steps by the Japanese regualtors is clear. It will mean increased adoption amoung Japanese citizens. Moreover, many cryptocurrency start-ups, businesses and traders will view the country as more friendly to their cause. This appears to be playing out currently as a number of Asian cryptocurrency firms are considering Japan.
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