Japanese users will soon be able to earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) by viewing Brave ads. On July 30, major Japanese cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer partnered with Brave Software International SEZC, a subsidiary of Brave Software — the maker of the crypto-enabled browser Brave. Within the partnership, the firms co-developed a crypto asset wallet in the Brave browser that allows Japanese users to receive BAT for viewing Brave ads. Japanese Brave users will also be able to buy or sell BAT on BitFlyer as well as tip BAT to publishers and content creators. While several exchanges in Japan support BAT — …

Crypto terrorists threatened to bomb a government office on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. They told authorities that they would only disable the alleged explosive device if their crypto ransom was paid. According to FNN, the terrorists sent the Numata Town Hall an email stating they had installed a bomb in a women’s second-floor toilet. They claimed that as long as officials met their payment demands before 03:00 UTC on June 29, the bomb would not be detonated. However, this appears to have been a fake threat. The deadline set by the criminals has passed and the hall remains intact …

United States-based TradeStation, a subsidiary of Japanese firm Monex Group, is planning to launch a crypto lending service. The plan was announced in Monex’s earning report published on July 29. Called “Crypto Earn” the new lending service is “C2B2B” that lends institutions borrowed assets from clients. Last November, TradeStation launched a cryptocurrency brokerage platform via a newly-launched offshoot called TradeStation Crypto. They initially supported Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). TradeStation launched its app this month and currently, crypto trading is available in 40 states in the U.S. Monex Group, which is also the …

Formed to connect fans of Japanese animation, the Otaku Coin Association has announced leading figures from the anime and the blockchain industry will join its leadership team. According to a July 27 article in Japanese news outlet AdverTimes, executives from Dentsu Japanimation Studio and the Hakuhodo Blockchain Initiative will be joining the Otaku Coin Association (OCA) as new directors. The OCA appointed Makashi Muto from Dentsu and Yusuke Ito of Hakuhodo to its team. The association started distributing 6 million tokens among 15,000 participants for free in September 2018. However, the OAC intends to launch a fundraiser in 2021 as …

After delisting privacy-focused asset Zcash (ZEC) in pursuit of regulatory compliance, Japanese exchange Liquid is not against a future relisting, pending regulatory clarity. “Regarding ZEC and our decision to temporarily stop providing trading services, we are seeking further guidance from both industry working groups and the MAS before we resume trading on Liquid,” exchange COO Seth Melamed told Cointelegraph on July 25, referring to the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He added: “In speaking with other VASPs [Virtual Asset Service Providers], we are not aware of any other exchange applying to the PSA [Payment Services Act] license that will be listing …

Japanese exchange Liquid recently unveiled a mass asset removal from its platform, which COO Seth Melamed claimed necessary for legal compliance. “Liquid works closely with regulators in Japan and Singapore,” Melamed told Cointelegraph on July 25. Referring to Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism, or CFT, regulations, he added: “As part of risk management we have to take a conservative approach regarding maintaining listings in tokens that are potentially viewed by regulators as in conflict with rules around AML and CFT and the Funds Travel Rule.” Liquid provided a public statement The exchange’s asset removal list …

China leads the development of central bank digital currency (CBDC ) in the world. Digital yuan has been already tested in some areas in China while Western nations have just started talking about CBDCs. Six central banks such as ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, are collaborating on the research of CBDC and reportedly held the first meeting just in April. Bank of Japan announced at the beginning of this month that they would start testing a digital yen although they didn’t specify when. The United States hasn’t even started officially talking about it. Last month, Chairman of the …

Carlos Ghosn — the ex-Nissan head who made a dramatic escape from house arrest in Japan in December — paid the extraction team half a million dollars worth of crypto. According to U.S. prosecutors in a court filing, Ghosn’s son arranged for a payment to Peter Taylor — one of the two men who assisted the ex-Nissan chairman in fleeing Japan — of $500,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) through the U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase. Taylor and his father, ex-Green Beret Michael Taylor, smuggled Ghosn out of Japan in a musical instrument case and assisted in his transport from Kansai International Airport …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid is reportedly delisting privacy-focused coin Zcash (ZEC) in order to apply for a license to operate in Singapore. The Electric Coin Company, which develops the Zcash cryptocurrency, announced the news in a July 22 tweet. They elaborated that Zcash will be delisted from Liquid alongside 28 other tokens. Liquid, which recently ranked #6 among top tier exchanges on CryptoCompare, has not yet posted an official statement on whether they plan to delist Zcash. Cointelegraph reached out to the exchange with more queries and will update the article pending any new information. Zcash is entirely compatible with …

The body for regulating digital assets in Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has whitelisted OMG Network’s native token for trading. According to a July 22 announcement from GMO Coin, the Japanese crypto exchange is now offering trading for the OMG Network token (OMG). The addition of the coin on the exchange, licensed by the FSA in its role as Japan’s financial watchdog, indicates that OMG is the 27th virtual asset to be approved in the country. The most recent one before OMG to be whitelisted by the FSA was Huobi Token (HT) in April. OMG Network, formerly OmiseGo, is …

In April, the Japanese government began distributing 100,000 yen payments — about $930 — to every household. But did the Japanese follow some in the United States and spend that money in crypto exchanges? The data from the three major crypto exchanges in Japan suggests they probably did not. In his latest report, Yuya Hasegawa, a market analyst at Bitbank exchange notes some “irregularities” in the month of June in terms of deposits but overall concludes that the coronavirus relief payments did not result in significant changes to the behavior of Japanese crypto investors. There were some changes to normal. …

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has officially announced it will hire Ryozo Himino as its next leader. In a July 20 update to the Financial Services Agency’s executive directory, Himino is now listed as the commissioner of the watchdog group. The regulator was formerly the agency’s International Financial Deputy Counselor and the first Japanese Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Himino will be replacing outgoing commissioner Toshihide Endo, who Bitcoin bull Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano described in his role with the FSA as “a big proponent of Bitcoin and Lightning Network.” However, the new commissioner may …