Jul 16 (News On Japan) - The population of cryptocurrency traders in Japan, the world's fourth-best economy, is expected to rise from 350,000 to 500,000 by the end of this year.
This insight is part of a report released by Bidget, a leading crypto exchange. The report attributes the fast increase to the Asian country's forward-looking regulatory framework, citizens' tech-savviness, and homegrown technological ecosystem.
According to the report, the Japanese crypto market is two-thirds of South Korea's, closely trailing Turkey's. Due to Japan's Financial Services Agency's (FSA) tight-fisted approach to derivative crypto products, Japanese enthusiasts mainly trade mainstream coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a few others, leaving much to be desired regarding market penetration.
Japan has one of the most expansive crypto regulatory frameworks globally. It has invested heavily in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and blockchain gaming technology, although it restricts token issuance and investment.
Already, Japan is a global force in the gaming world, being one of the countries with the highest per capita profit in the market. If you combine its excellence in the crypto and gaming markets, there’s little wonder that crypto gaming has come alive in Japan, with crypto casinos, like those seen here, increasingly becoming one of the more popular pastimes in the region. These sites have carved a niche for themselves because they allow for uninterrupted play, are “not bound by regional restrictions, and have advantages and features that differ from traditional fiat currency casinos.” Some of these features include enhanced privacy and anonymity, cheaper and faster deposits and withdrawals, and access to a vast gaming list.
Japan as a forerunner in cryptocurrency adoption and its global-first regulations
Globally, Japan has always been a progressive forerunner in cryptocurrency, legalizing its use as a payment method as far back as 2016. Due to this, the country became a global epicenter for the crypto industry, and it gained massively during the crypto boom, with many crypto exchanges springing up in its largely unregulated space.
Crypto regulations have since become essential for the country following the collapse of Mt.Gox, a globally-ranked Japanese crypto exchange, due to a massive hack of its database. A similar hacking of Coincheck, which resulted in a loss of billions of yen in crypto assets, forced authorities to introduce the global-first regulatory framework for crypto.
However, the regulatory measures became counterintuitive as they tightened the entry barrier for smaller crypto firms and significantly slowed the initial speedy adoption of cryptocurrency. Further revisions to the framework made in 2019 and 2022, among other factors, are gradually turning things around for good.
Recent Driving Forces for Crypto Adoption in Japan
According to Jay Jo and Yoon Lee, Japan has implemented vital policies to edge other countries in the Web3 market. Some of the steps it's taken to attract foreign and domestic investment include issuing a Web3 whitepaper and rolling out friendly tax policies for startups in the arena. Other steps focus on increasing Japanese Web3 startups to 100,000 within five years.
Additionally, the Japanese government is investing heavily in blockchain applications. Its crucial investment covers use cases such as integrating millions of real estate data into a blockchain network, developing a platform for interconnected sharing of banking customers' information spearheaded by the FSA, bitcoin insurance products to alleviate losses as a result of repeated exchange hacks, among other laudable projects.
Just last week, traders affected by the Mt.Gox hack started getting the needed closure after years of back-and-forth, as the defunct crypto exchange started repaying its creditors, returning confidence in the market and further fueling the boom. Similarly, Sony Group, the Japanese tech giant, diversified into crypto by acquiring a mainstream crypto firm, Amber Japan - a move that could revolutionize payment processing and growing demand for cryptocurrency payment options.
Understandably, the majority of the country's 125 million population is abreast of these promising endeavors by the government and big corporations and attempting to profit massively from them through crypto trades and online casinos. All of these are why its crypto population is growing strong, at 500K right now but with much more room to grow.
