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Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has completed registration of its cryptocurrency exchange Rakuten Wallet, which will go live next month, the company confirmed in a press release.
Rakuten, which follows several major Japanese tech players in entering the crypto exchange market, renamed its product from Everybody’s Bitcoin earlier this month.
The company had acquired the exchange under the former name in August 2018 for 265 million yen (at the time $2.4 million). Rakuten then said:
“In order to provide cryptocurrency payment methods smoothly, we believe it is necessary for us to provide a cryptocurrency exchange function. We believe that the role of cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments will grow in the future.”
Under the business improvement order, the platform had to improve its business operations through the establishment of management control systems, building a management system related to user protection measures, the creation of bookkeeping management system, the establishment of a risk management system and an outsourcing management system.
The Concept is to Recreate the Network of Retailers and Merchants
In February, Rakuten announced that they will be launching its own cryptocurrency known as Rakuten Coin. Company’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani described the new digital asset as a “borderless” currency. Moreover, the company also aims to use the Rakuten Coin to attract global customers such that it could mitigate the exchange rate fees.
This announcement came at a time when the crypto markets have attained a global acceptance through its ever-growing investor community. Moreover, big business corporations are also now feeling more comfortable and confident to venture in the crypto-space thereby figuring out their own cryptocurrency strategies.
Rakuten, which is also called the Amazon of Japan, has a huge customer base globally with over $8 billion in revenues. Moreover, its loyalty program has been present over the past 15 years and has awarded an equivalent to $9.1 billion. The idea is to tap into more customers and expand its business across different global verticals by encashing on the recently popularised revolutionary blockchain tech.
Rakuten said that they will be filing another VCEX application for Rakuten Wallet in September 2019. A VCEX license would let Rakuten cut out middlemen like PayPal and centralized banks. Rakuten would not likely cut them out, totally. Some users wouldn’t use their platform if they did.
Which currencies Rakuten Wallet will use remains to be seen. They may choose to accept pre-existing cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH and EOS, together with creating their own. Either will affect their product offerings.
Crypto Payments Will Grow in the Future
In their announcement, Rakuten explained they expect that the role of cryptocurrency-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail and in P2P payments will grow in the future. In order to provide cryptocurrency payment methods smoothly, the company believes it is necessary to provide a cryptocurrency exchange function.
Furthermore, a number of customers, in particular, foreign exchange customers, of Rakuten Securities, the securities company of the Rakuten Group, have been calling for the provision of a cryptocurrency exchange service, which is also part of the background of the Rakuten Group considering entry into the cryptocurrency exchange industry.