Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Rakuten Wallet has launched trading a year after acquiring Everybody’s Bitcoin. Three trading pairs go live Confirmed in a press release on Aug. 19, Rakuten Wallet, which is a subsidiary of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, said spot trading of three cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) — was now live. In future, developers plan to release an app for iOS and Android, use of which will be mandatory for deposits and withdrawals. “Customers who already have a bank account with Rakuten Bank will be able to easily open a Rakuten Wallet account simply …

Society is now witnessing the implementation of digital currencies, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology worldwide. These new digital technologies necessitate very high consumption of electric energy, which is currently produced with coal and fossil fuels that have adverse environmental effects. A global shift toward green energy will require the removal of the technological/infrastructural, financial and regulatory/tax-policy barriers. In this series, we evaluate the tax, digital technology and solar policies (including a space solar power satellite) of the top carbon dioxide-emitting countries. In 2009, Japan — the Land of the Rising Sun — undertook important initiatives that set the tone …

Australian energy technology company Power Ledger and Japanese Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) have completed a joint trial of a blockchain-based system for post-FIT (feed-in tariff) surplus power in Osaka. P2P transaction of surplus power In an announcement published on Aug. 12, Power Ledger revealed the test completion of a peer-to-peer system demonstrating benefits for post-FIT surplus power in the Japanese city of Osaka. The system purportedly enabled KEPCO to conduct a P2P transaction of surplus power autonomously and automatically, which included settlements with digital currency. Fumiaki Ishida, KEPCO representative general manager, commented on the development: “Although there are still …

Digital asset trust and security company BitGo is reportedly expanding into the Japanese market, The Block reported on Aug. 9. A source familiar with the matter told The Block that BitGo is expanding its presence in Japan. According to the report, BitGo is planning to grow its Japan-based team, including hiring a sales director for the company’s sales team in Tokyo. Per a dedicated job post published by BitGo last week, the sales director will specifically be responsible for the company’s “digital wallet and offline vault solutions across your agreed territory.” In May, BitGo appointed a veteran Wall Street trader …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange VC Trade has integrated an anti-money laundering (AML) compliance technology developed by Taiwanese digital currency hardware wallet company CoolBitX. As Japanese finance-focused news outlet Blocktempo reported on Aug. 8, VC Trade — a crypto exchange founded by Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings last June — has adopted CoolBitX’s Sygna, a know-your customer (KYC) and AML compliance technology focused on digital currency transactions. CoolBitX’s founder and CEO Michael Ou ostensibly explained that the Sygna system allows users to withdraw assets to their wallets through a KYC multi-level checkpoint. If one of the parties participating in the transaction is …

Cryptocurrency giant Ripple has partnered with Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo as part of its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). Ripple announced its new Japanese partnerships in a press release on July 30. Emi Yoshikawa, senior director of global operations at Ripple, noted that there is high interest in blockchain within Japanese academia: “Japan is quickly becoming a leading force in crypto assets and blockchain. The region has always been forward thinking and exploring ways to improve the current financial system [...] We have seen high levels of interest from the academic community on topics around blockchain and …

Online brokerage Monex Group Inc., owner of the hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, plans to join the Facebook Libra cryptocurrency project. A report from Cointelegraph Japan today, July 26, reveals that Monex Group's CEO Oki Matsumoto announced the company had filed an application to join the Libra Association during a press conference on Monex's Q2 2019 financial results earlier this week. The Libra Association is the newly-established, independent governance consortium for Facebook’s planned stablecoin, dubbed Libra, and is currently negotiating with a host of other potential members — including Visa, Uber, Mastercard and eBay. Entrance fees As Cointelegraph previously reported, …

Japanese commercial giant Sumitomo Corporation has partnered with a sister company of local cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer to launch a blockchain real estate business. As Cointelegraph Japan reported on July 23, bitFlyer Blockchain will develop an umbrella platform for renting real estate, driven by smart contracts on its in-house Miyabi blockchain. Speaking to local tech news outlet CNET Japan, Yuzo Kano, managing director of bitFlyer Blockchain, added that the aim of the project was to enable rental parties to complete the entire process from a smartphone. “It can greatly simplify the real estate rental contracts process, and the intermediary company can …

Marubeni Corp., a major Japanese sōgō shōsha, or general trading company, is now backing a blockchain-based power trading platform. Per a report by Reuters on July 23, Marubeni has issued a loan to Lithuania-based blockchain project WePower. According to Reuters, the size of Marubeni’s stake in WePower after converting the loan is yet to be determined. WePower has reportedly developed a platform which allows small- and medium-sized enterprises to more easily buy power specifically from wind- and solar-based sources via standardized digital power purchase agreements. The platform aims to unlock tens of billions of dollars in power generation to smaller …

South Korea has the highest blockchain patent grant rate, according to London-based law firm Withers & Rogers. Meanwhile, Japan comes at a distant second, intellectual property business media platform IAM reports on July 23. Getting a blockchain patent in China takes a while Per the report, South Korea has the highest patent grant rate (54%), followed by Japan (17%), and the United States (16%), with China significantly lagging behind. The outlet suggests that a reason for this substantial disparity between China and the rest of the world is that a sizable portion of those patents outside China follow a procedure …

In a world where the global crypto community continues to face a growing number of regulatory hurdles with each passing day, the term “virgin Bitcoin” is starting to become more common among digital currency enthusiasts. However, it is of utmost importance to clarify what this term actually means and the significance it carries. According to Dave Jevans, the CEO of CipherTrace, virgin Bitcoins are essentially BTC tokens that do not have a transaction (TX) record associated with them. As a result of this, coins lack a defined attribution history, making them extremely useful for money launderers as well as other …

The Japanese government is attempting to spearhead the creation of a new, global cryptocurrency payments network that would be similar to SWIFT. Replace SWIFT with a global crypto payments network? Citing an anonymous source, a Reuters report published on July 18 claimed that the country’s push for the network is motivated by a resolve to combat money laundering more effectively. While plans are being kept firmly under wraps, the source alleged that Tokyo hopes to have the network established within the next few years. Plans for the network were reportedly initially proposed by Japan’s Ministry of Finance and its national …