The Rise Of Cryptocurrency Exchanges In Japan
Japan has consistently established itself among the world's leading countries in terms of economic status. When it comes to cryptocurrency, it is not surprising that Japan also has a significant place in this arena. It has an expansive base of cryptocurrency investors and users that account for more than 11% of the global Bitcoin trading volume of the Japanese yen.
Taking into account these factors, Japan currently occupies the 2nd or 3rd spot in terms of the largest economies for Bitcoin. Here, we'll discuss some of the factors that contributed to the phenomenal rise of cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan.
While there are thousands of cryptocurrencies and altcoins, Bitcoin remains the biggest and best known.
Openness and Support for Technology
Japan has always been at the forefront when it comes to technological advancements. A testament to this is the numerous consumer tech companies that originated from Japan: Sony, Nintendo, Panasonic, JVC, Hitachi, and Canon to name a few. The passion for innovation has been deeply ingrained in every Japanese citizen, which is why the Japanese were the first to learn more about cryptocurrency outside of the United States during the emergence of Bitcoin. Now that the cryptocurrency economy is flourishing with the emergence of altcoins, Japan as an innovative society has already taken measures to adjust its economic policies and take into consideration any recent developments in crypto economics.
Governmental Backing for Innovations
A good thing worth noting about Japan and its economic policies is that its government is open to supporting innovations in science, technology, economics, and other matters of national importance. Its government has been one of the first to recognize the importance of cryptocurrency in a dynamic world economy. Most government leaders in Japan have had extensive economic backgrounds as executives and officers of major tech companies. Thus, they understand the important role of tech-related innovations in the economy of Japan and are more inclined to support proposals or undertakings that are innovative.
Cryptocurrency currently sits at the top of the pile when it comes to economic and technological innovation. Japan foresees its development as a precursor to ushering in an era of cashless economy and streamlined economic transactions across the world.
Japan Has Strong Ties to Cryptocurrency
If you do some quick research on the history of cryptocurrency and its beginnings, you'll encounter the enigmatic name, Satoshi Nakamoto. This Japanese pseudonym was to become significant over the course of Bitcoin's colorful history. It still remains a puzzle to this day exactly who is the person or group of persons behind the famous pseudonym. One thing is certain though, it created a strong link and foundation for Japan when it comes to Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general.
It is not surprising that Japan is considered to be a crypto hub. Japanese people were enthusiastic and widely supportive of this new digital asset, to the extent that they mined and used Bitcoin during its humble beginnings when it had very little 'real-world' value. A few years back, Japan enjoyed a surge in cryptocurrency activity when the Mt. Gox crypto exchange was launched in 2010. By 2013 and 2014, this Japan-based crypto exchange became the biggest in the world, reported to have handled 70% of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide during these years.
Japan Has a Resilient Crypto Outlook
The massive success enjoyed by Mt. Gox also led to it suffering one of the worst setbacks in crypto exchange history when it was hacked in 2014. This development shook the very foundation of cryptocurrency, but it didn't break the resolve of Japanese investors. Instead, the Japanese government took steps to protect investors and consumers by monitoring and formalizing cryptocurrency investments.
By recognizing cryptocurrency as a type of money, Japan has implemented stricter measures for cryptocurrency exchanges and making the transactions more legitimate for consumers. Due to this, Japan is among the countries that have the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate.
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