A correct move on-time by using the right opportunity can make millions. This became true in 2018, when Japan they hosted the first Japan Blockchain Conference.

Present in conference were dignitaries like; David Namdar, Travis Kling, Jason Hsu and Avishai Ziv, along with panel moderator Rizmy Shariff, J.D. Salbego, CEO Legion Ventures shared their views on a future in which Blockchain will become necessary implementation. They also outlined the advantage of decentralized ecosystem and difference with its centralized counterpart, and major setbacks to its mainstreaming.

Such eagerness for Blockchain driven future is nothing new between Japanese people. Especially after 2018, a year in which Japan witnesses a major increase in its crypto economy. This boom was counterintuitive since Japan is the first nation to impose Blockchain regulations which acted as a catalyst for the boom. So, the obvious question is- What regulations, and who imposed them?

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The Regulations

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) in Japan implemented the two regulations:

• Payment Services Act - A modification in Japan’s Banking Act, this gave a legal recognition to “virtual currencies” which now been accepted as legalized payment mode.
• While the other unnamed act gave legal status to the functioning of 11 Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Japan’s Cryptocurrency Bubble

Bitcoin hit the Japanese market back in 2014. At the time of its impeccable high, valued $460 million or 8,50,000 bitcoins, Mt. Gox, a crypto exchange in Japan, was dealing with 70% of global Blockchain transactions. However it led to general apathy and mistrust over cryptocurrency.

In 2017 when Japan implemented these regulations as China and South Korea banned cryptocurrency and ICOs. The international crypto community turned their attention towards Asian countries, which later became the largest crypto economy in the world.

Also Japan’s recognition cryptos as ‘virtual currencies’ brought serious investors back into game. This increased Bitcoin’s value upto $7000. Moreover, total virtual currency originating in Japan amounted to 60% of global Bitcoin transactions.

Promoting Non-financial Blockchain Implementation

Japan’s crypto ecosystem has many key players including Yoshitaka Kitao, the CEO of SBI, who believed in transcending the limited through Blockchain technology in terms of financial aspects. That must be learnt to distinguish Blockchain from Cryptocurrencies.

According to their vision, SBI invested in Asian companies, including one present in Japan using AI and Blockchain with a fund of $460 million which got declared in 2018.

However, the immense enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies witnessed during the conference has faded. Yet, the wait for next edition is on, even then, Japan has been the most efficient and dedicated innovators in the field of Blockchain.