One of largest Japanese trading companies has officially announced the start of a proof-of-concept (PoC) aimed to develop a blockchain traceability system, according to a press release published on Feb. 1. Itochu Corporation, a general trading company and one of the five largest companies in Japan, is developing a blockchain traceability system that will allow buyers and sellers to record the date, time, location and other transaction details on blockchain through a smartphone app. The PoC will use the Indonesian-based firm Pt. Aneka Bumi Pratama’s natural rubber supply chain, a company that processes and produces crumb rubber and is fully …

Japanese online broker Monex Group — owner of previously hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck — released its financial report on Q3 for the 2019 fiscal year on Jan. 31. The report shows that the trading platform halved its losses in Q3, as compared with the preceding quarter. The results of the report cover the third quarter ending March 31, 2019. They indicate that Monex’s crypto asset segment — comprised of Coincheck, which was acquired by Monex in April 2018 — reported an overall loss of 300 million yen (~$2.76 million ). This nonetheless represents a two-fold improvement over the second quarter …

Major Japanese messaging app LINE has signed a memorandum of understanding with local financial giant Nomura Holdings to form a blockchain alliance, a press release reveals on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Nomura, which provides investment, financing and related services to individual, institutional and government customers, LINE and LVC Corporation, which oversees messenger's digital asset and blockchain business units, will sign a formal contract by the end of March 2019. The three partners are considering establishing a financial alliance focused on blockchain. More details will be announced closer to the date, according to the press release. LINE and Nomura have successfully partnered …

Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings has officially announced a joint agreement with the United States blockchain consortium R3 to work in Japan, according to a press release published on Jan. 29. Back in December, SBI Holdings had already revealed its plans — according to an interview with R3’s CEO — to partner with software enterprise R3 to develop local use of its Corda blockchain platform, Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 6. Yesterday’s press release was an official announcement of the partnership. SBI Holdings and R3’s joint agreement aims to promote the development of financial services backed with distributed ledger technologies …

Japanese IT firm Fujitsu has successfully trialed a blockchain-based solution to address inefficiencies in electricity surplus management, the company confirmed in a press release on Jan. 29. Fujitsu, which partnered with local power distribution company ENERES, used blockchain to increase the success rates of power sharing, which is administered through a process known as Demand Response (DR). An agreement between utilities companies and consumers, DR aims to anticipate periods of peak demand by ensuring surplus power is available to those who need it. The current technology involved makes DR an inefficient mechanism, Fujitsu says, something which blockchain has demonstrably helped …

Japanese online broker Monex Group, owner of hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, warned of a new scam claiming to be related to its business in a news release on Jan. 28. The scam, about which only brief details have been released, involves potential victims receiving calls from an entity dubbed “Monex Coin Management.” They are then invited to call a form of automated trading system linked to Monex, the release states, something that does not exist in practice. “The Monex Group and (subsidiaries) do not have any relation with the above company,” it confirms. Such illicit activity remains commonplace for major …

Cryptocurrency mobile wallet BRD has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round supported by SBI Crypto Investment, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 25. SBI Crypto Investment, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based SBI Holdings, contributed to the funding, which BRD states will help to accelerate international expansion and scale its technology platform. In the press release, BRD also announced the availability of cryptocurrency purchases through the use of SEPA transfers in the European market through a partnership with crypto payment provider Coinify. In September 2018, crypto wallet Abra also enabled support for SEPA bank …

Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten has announced a revision to its corporate restructure, setting up a new payments subsidiary that includes its cryptocurrency business, Cointelegraph Japan reported Jan. 21. Rakuten, known informally as ‘Japan’s Amazon,’ originally revealed in August last year it would seek to reorganize its various offshoots in order to improve accountability and decision-making processes. Now, the company says it will rebrand its loyalty subsidiary, Spotlight Inc., to a new entity, Rakuten Payment, which will also run its cryptocurrency exchange. Rakuten Payment, along with other details of the restructure, should go live by April 1, the company stated in …

Switzerland-based Cryptocurrency ‘smart card’ wallet manufacturer Tangem has secured $15 million in funding from Japanese finance giant SBI Group, the company confirmed in a press release Jan. 21. Tangem, which began issuing its first wallets in June 2018, aims to increase cryptocurrency adoption by making assets spendable in a manner similar to conventional smart cards often used in transport and loyalty settings. Ticketing and loyalty will now form two of the target industries Tangem hopes to leverage to spread crypto smart cards, according to Tangem’s press release. The company also said it is eyeing initial coin offering (ICO) token distribution, …

Japanese blockchain development company Crypto Garage announced it had gained regulatory permission to trial its settlement system using Blockstream’s Liquid Sidechain, Cointelegraph Japan reported Jan. 21. Crypto Garage, which claimed to be the first such blockchain finance project to get the green light under the Japanese government’s regulatory sandbox scheme, will now conduct a one-year pilot with a group of participating cryptocurrency exchanges. The product, dubbed Settlenet, uses Liquid as part of an arrangement allowing exchanges to issue yen-pegged stablecoins and trade against Liquid Bitcoin (L-BTC), Blockstream’s sidechain. The feature also makes use of so-called ‘atomic swaps,’ the ability to …

On Jan. 17, Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, one of the largest players on the market, relaunched as a fully licensed platform in Japan after merging with the BitTrade exchange. Branching out to Japan, where compliance is valued and many regulatory measures are imposed for crypto players by domestic regulators, is a complex process. Here’s how Huobi entered the market, and which firms might soon follow suit. Specifics of the Japanese market and the FSA’s role in it Japan is one of the world’s largest markets for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins can be used as a legally accepted means of …

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi — currently the world’s 7th largest by daily traded volume — has relaunched as a fully licensed platform in Japan after merging with BitTrade. The news was announced in a press release published Jan. 17. As reported, Huobi Global's wholly owned subsidiary, Huobi Japan Holding Ltd, acquired a majority stake in BitTrade last September. At the time, BitTrade was one of only 16 crypto exchanges in the country to have secured a license from national financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA). Leon Li, Huobi Group Founder and CEO, has said that securing the license represents a …