In this week’s selected cryptocurrency- and blockchain-related news from Cointelegraph Japan, Bitflyer adds the Ether (ETH)/yen pair to its trading platform, the official website Ethereum.org adds a Japanese language version, while Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto says that Facebook opened Pandora’s box with its stablecoin project, Libra. Here is the past week of cryptocurrency and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. BitFlyer adds Ether/Japanese yen pair to its trading platform On Sept. 25, Cointelegraph Japan reported that the Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer was adding the Ether/yen pair (ETH/JPY) to “BitFlyer Lightning”, a virtual currency trading tool for …

The Japanese House of Representatives recently passed new crypto asset regulation affecting exchanges and custodians — the Payment Services Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. However, the country’s crypto gambling industry still endures strict gambling regulations. “Japan has very strict rules regarding gambling and the same applies to crypto gambling,” Joseph D. Hugh, CFO of international cryptocurrency betting platform Jukebucks, told Cointelegraph, adding: “Although it is very difficult to restrict players who play, the government keeps a close tab on crypto transactions originating from Japan using taxation as an excuse.” Yet, Japan passed a federal law in July …

Japan’s financial giant Monex Group, owner of cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, will be granting Bitcoin (BTC) as a mid-term shareholder benefit in 2019. In addition to the existing shareholder benefits, the new dividends will be paid out to those who hold the company’s shares as of Sept. 30, 2019, as a mid-term shareholder benefit for the 2019 fiscal year, Monex Group announced in a press release on Sept. 24. Coincheck account holders For shareholders who hold Coincheck accounts, Monex Group will give the equivalent of 500 Japanese yen ($4.65) in Bitcoin, worth about 0.00055 BTC at press time. According to the …

BitFlyer, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, is adding 5 new altcoins to its platforms in Europe and the United States. Five new altcoins added in Europe, three in US On Sept. 23, cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer announced that it is adding five new altcoins in Europe: Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Lisk (LSK) and Monacoin (MONA), which will be available immediately to its European customers, while bitFlyer U.S. customers will have immediate access to three of these coins: BCH, ETC, and LTC. The exchange, which is one of the oldest in the industry, pointed out that these coins were …

The governor of the Bank of Japan has said that international cooperation is of paramount importance when it comes to regulating digital currencies such as Facebook’s planned Libra token. Reuters reports that in a speech before business leaders in Osaka on Sept. 23, Haruhiko Kuroda urged policymakers to ensure that the highest level of regulation is applied to such assets, arguing that: “If Libra is introduced, it could have a huge impact on society” Libra perceived as a threat to monetary policy This July, Japanese authorities had set up a liaison conference — involving the Bank of Japan, the Ministry …

The Blockchain Transparency Institute (BTI) has released its latest market surveillance report which states that Kraken and Coinbase are among the cleanest cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry. BTI cleans wash trading from exchanges’ volumes On Sept. 19, the Blockchain Transparency Institute published its 5th market surveillance report that verifies reporting of cryptocurrency exchange volumes. The BTI has been publishing reports since August 2018, and through its proprietary algorithm, BTI cleans all wash trading from exchanges’ volumes. The report states: “Since the start of 2019, global wash trading has reduced by 35.7% among the real Top-40 exchanges. The process of sharing …

Japanese messaging giant Line launched its new crypto trading platform Bitmax on Sept. 17, Cointelegraph Japan reports. FSA approval received Following regulatory approval to operate a crypto exchange in early September, Line’s blockchain arm LVC Corporation officially introduced its newly launched crypto platform today. In accordance with previous announcement, Bitmax will initially allow users to trade five major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC). Small transactions for newcomers With exposure to 81 million users in Japan, Line now accepts deposits and withdrawals through its mobile payment service, Line Pay, while crypto trading service …

In this week’s selected cryptocurrency- and blockchain-related news from Cointelegraph Japan, government and industry officials secured important appointments, while new data shows the popularity of cryptocurrencies and their favored uses in Japan and China. Expert: Bitcoin is most commonly used for remittances in China On Sept. 11, Cointelegraph Japan reported that Sunny Wang, Japan's representative of Chinese cryptocurrency fund Longmen Capital, said that the most common application of Bitcoin (BTC) in China is for international remittances. Wang said it is easier and cheaper to conduct remittances with Bitcoin, adding that cryptocurrencies have broken a barrier normally guarded by banks and …

Fresh data from the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) has revealed that as of April 2019, the value of yen-denominated Bitcoin (BTC) holdings has outstripped those in XRP on domestic exchanges. As Cointelegraph Japan reported on Sept. 10, the surge in the value of exchanges’ Bitcoin holdings coincides with the beginning of Bitcoin’s 2019 bullish uptrend, which saw the top cryptocurrency hit close to $14,000 by late June. Value of yen-denominated Bitcoin (red) and XRP (blue) holdings on JVCEA member exchanges, January-July 2019. Source: JVCEA Bitcoin holdings soar in value amid stagnating altcoin market The JVCEA is a self-regulatory …

The popularity of the decentralized blockchain-enabled web browser Brave continues to grow as it has outranked other browsers in Google Play rankings in Japan. Brave beats rival browsers According to a Reddit post on Sept. 8, this is the first time that the privacy-focused Brave browser has overtaken its rival browsers such as Firefox, Opera and Chrome in Japan. The most recent ranking data from Google Play shows that Brave sits comfortably at number 10 on the list, while its closest competitor Firefox lags behind, occupying 14th place. A Google Play ranking is determined by how well apps perform against …

Japan, one of the leading markets for cryptocurrencies, has seen a series of important developments for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries this week. The country’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has licensed crypto-related businesses. Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso noted that regulators need to find new approaches to address emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Deputy Prime Minister addresses regulation approaches On Sept. 5, Minister Aso was the keynote speaker at the FINSUM fintech conference in …

LVC Corporation, the digital asset- and blockchain-focused arm of Japanese messaging giant LINE, has obtained a crypto exchange operating license from Japan’s financial regulator. The news was reported by Cointelegraph Japan on Sept 6. Trading for 5 major cryptocurrencies As previously reported, LVC Corp.’s trading platform, to be dubbed BITMAX, will enable Line’s 80 million users in Japan to buy and sell multiple major cryptocurrencies. According to CT Japan, the FSA has authorized the trading of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and XRP on the platform. Per a press release recently shared with Cointelegraph, LINE counts …