Bitcoin Forum

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This paper presents the situation of the cryptocurrency market at the end of 2017 and the challenges that the crypto community still faces. Thanks to its crypto friendly legal framework, Japan should be the country to watch in 2018. The currently high transaction fees of Bitcoin offers an opportunity for Japanese crypto assets to become the preferred payment method on the island and maybe in the world.
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Looking back, 2017 was a fantastic year for the crypto world. Investors enjoyed 20 fold returns on Bitcoin (BTC), 100 for Ether (ETH), 60 for Litecoin (LTC) and so on. It was hard to lose money in dollar terms.

This exceptional performance is the consequence of years of hard work from developers, exchanges, lobbyists, authors, etc. to make Bitcoin and the likes more known and accessible to the world.
The crypto market is becoming mainstream: institutional and retail investors are now together in this new asset class. The more, the merrier one could say.

Indeed, the influx of new joiners came at a benefit: the skyrocketing rise in value of crypto assets.

But it came at a cost too: Congested blockchains, rising transaction costs, crashing exchanges, etc.

While cryptocurrencies made a name for themselves this year, a lot must be done so that they leave their nascent state and become mature payment methods.

The time is now to scale.

On December 13, Vitalik Buterin, the Founder of Ethereum, challenged his followers on Twitter:

•   “So total cryptocoin market cap just hit $0.5T today. But have we *earned* it?”
•   “How many unbanked people have we banked?”
•   “How much actual usage of micropayment channels is there actually in reality?”

Without a real use case in the daily life of people, 99% of cryptocurrencies and tokens will be remembered as a funny investment that turned out to be a mirage.

Bitcoin is here to stay.

It has the first mover advantage, the biggest network, fair incentives and its scarcity makes it the true digital gold. It’s the benchmark of all crypto assets. For these reasons, Bitcoin will survive and at least act as a store of value.

However, Bitcoin was also designed to be a medium of exchange but it is now too slow and too expensive to use. Being the first mover also has its flaws. Bitcoin blocks are 1 Megabyte big and occur every 10 minutes. That is not enough to cope with the thousands of new transactions happening every minute. Bitcoin miners include the transactions with the highest fees attached in the blocks.
This is how Bitcoin is no longer viable as a medium of exchange for small transactions.

It may be temporary though.

The introduction of the Lightning Networks (LN) solution to the Bitcoin network will make Bitcoin great again.
But when will that happen?
Will the community tear itself apart as it did when the Segregated Witness (Segwit) solution was launched this summer? Nobody knows. There may well be another 12 to 18 months of developments and hiccups along the way.

So what will happen in the meantime?

Now that millions of people have become aware of cryptocurrencies and that the Bitcoin blockchain is in limbo, there is an immense opportunity for an altcoin to become the preferred coin for transactions.

Let’s remember that the value of a coin mostly depends on the size of its network. The more people use it, the higher its value.
Also, the number of merchants accepting Bitcoin vs credit cards is still low worldwide. A successful altcoin could in no time take over Bitcoin as the preferred coin by merchants.

Therefore, this is no surprise that the Bitcoin cash (BCH) supporters are so vocal in the media. BCH offers lower transaction costs thanks to its 8 Megabytes block size. It could thus fill the gap.
Litecoin (LTC) is another contender. It’s a clone of Bitcoin with larger and more frequent blocks. It has Segwit too.

In the end, the users will decide which coin they endorse.

But the legal framework plays an important role here.
In most countries, the legal status of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is still unclear. Why would merchants accept cryptocurrencies that are uneasy to apprehend and that the government can ban overnight?

Japan gave cryptocurrencies legal tender status in April. This is a massive step for a rapid adoption by Japanese people and merchants.
Which coins are they likely to endorse for payments?

BCH? LTC? Probably not. These coins are known in Japan but probably lack the support of the local crypto communities.

And Japan has its own altcoins: NEM and MONA. They are very different in design.

NEM is similar to Ether as it enables the creation of NEM powered blockchains and smart contracts. There are 9 billion tokens that were premined. Transactions are validated by nodes, based on a Proof of Importance method.

MONA is a fork of LTC with more frequent blocks. It is popular with gamers and is even accepted by IT stores. Coins are mined by the traditional Proof of Work method.

Both coins enjoy strong local support and can be purchased directly against Fiat on the Japanese exchanges.

This is why Japanese altcoins shall be monitored closely in 2018.

Their adoption by local merchants shall be facilitated thanks to the clear legal framework for cryptocurrencies in Japan and the work of their communities.

Should they become widely adopted in Japan, the network effect could make them very popular in other parts of the world.

Calangaman
Published on Bitcointalk on 27 Dec 2017

Its all great to know. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your kind words !

2017 April Japan History day for Bitcoin The day long awaited Legalising Bitcoin happened after then every body know till date we have seen the bitcoin price growth obvious japan is crucial market for bitcoin in 2018 as well

Yes of course, BTC will be accepted as long as fees drop

That was long but it is worth reading it.
I get excited with some parts of it and somehow made me smile too.

NEM could really be a big hit when it comes to Japanese support, actually it can be seen how much it grew in value.

It might be litecoin that will be offered to them because of its proof that it is tested and can handle a lot of transactions.

This will be a great 2018 not only for Japan but for the whole world.

Thank you.
LTC is definitely a contender but MONA is also very solid and has been tested since 2014.

japan and bitcoin, 2 words that can not be separated, with bitcoin japan able to improve economy quickly. I think japan can be the best country number 1 in the world. in the year 2018 japan will progress from every sector.

Nice update thank you posting this. Japan will also enter in bitcoin mining next year. I wish i could live in japan  ;)

Thank you!
Japan is already very active in BTC mining.

That's interesting

I love how Japan set in bitcoin in a organized manner. I really admire their discipline and intelligence. They just don't cope up just to say that they adapted new things instead they go work to be productive.
This was a great year for bitcoin and no doubt that Japan is one of he most influential country in bitcoin today.
I will keep updating myself about NEM and Mona. Hope for new good updates soon.

thanks for sharing mate, i`m really excited what will bring us the next year. i hope the market will get bigger and bigger and bitcoin will reach new highs ;)

Thanks guys for your comments. Much appreciated.

If you have Japanese friends, it's always insightful to know their opinion.

I'm fully betting on NEM to go giant status next year with pending releases and growing partnerships and blockchain usage.

It will be an interesting year also with regards if the marketcap can be sustained or that we will enter a bear market, though I think that is very unlikely for a while.

Long but full of information! Thanks buddy. As what we are expecting in Japan, Japan will innovate more the usage of cryptocurrency. Japan altcoin has the potential to move forward. Nem and MONA are different in bitcoin or ethereum. They will solve the current problem about transaction fees and slow speed of transaction.
I think 2018 will be the great age of cryptocurrency and because Japan will enter the cryptocurrency, many countries will now pull out to join crypto world. I hope this will be a great start to us and somehow, all crypto enthusiast will become successful.
2018 will be the opening year of cryptocurrency, Japan will lead to the innovation and more efficiently altcoin.

Bitcoin is facing a big issue of high transaction fee which has stopped its adoption as a payment method mostly.Even Steam has dropped its bitcoin acceptance.Every one now admires how japan still manages to use bitcoin as a payment option with such a huge transaction fee and late confirmation.

If japan decides to drop bitcoin being used as a currency,then it would have a very big negative impact on bitcoin all over the world.It is said that usage of local currencies like NEM and MONA has increased in japan and we should see whether the local people completely shift towards them or transactions or they continue to use bitcoins despite its high transaction fee.

Unfortunately it does not look like Europe is following the same approach towards Bitcoin and cryptos in general. In short they want to get rid of the anonymity of transactions, and I wonder if people will keep getting into cryptos if you have to declare every year on your tax return your assets in crypto-currencies.
If we look at the bright side, Europe is not really big in the crypto world.

And as HasHe mentioned above, the fees concern is still not solved. Countries can be as friendly as ever towards Bitcoin but if it costs too much to make a transaction, only criminal organizations will keep being interested to hold some for high amounts payments.

Interesting lines, thanks for sharing your thought!
Bitcoin has clearly an issues with transaction fees, so I agree there will be some competitor that will gain from the situation...
Just need to find out which one! I know about NEM and have invested a little in it, no less about MONA, I will study  ;)

Exactly, BTC fees are the issue for Bitcoin broader acceptance at this point.
But transactions fees are very low with NEM and MONA so these coins may be more easily accepted by Japanese merchants throughout 2018.

Very interesting post!

Besides Japan, let's see what's gonna happen to the world.

I would imagine the more unstable the world is, more people will seek to safe heaven for their money. This could be an opportunity for bitcoin.

I would imagine if the US declares war to North Korea, bitcoin will skyrocket.

Overall the cryptocurrencies will succeed, eventhough there is a lot of fud about ICOs beeing scam and so on. People prefer ICO as ICO are a better way to get huge returns, and that way of thinking helps the ICOs do their work.
Bitcoin is here to stay, but with these high fees, for how long it will stay king? I would fear for BTC instead of fearing for the alts.

NEM and MONA are the coins I hold now and yes both coins have great potential in the future.

Of course do altcoins offer cheaper transaction fees, because their networks don't experience any sort of actual usage. None of the altcoins in this market comes even close to how robust and secure Bitcoin's network is, and that premium will cost you, it's that simple. I must however admit that at this point the fees aren't reasonable anymore, but that's something Lightning Network will take care of, so there is no need for merchants to accept whatever altcoin. This ecosystem need to start with seriously utilizing Segwit, which is something that will lower the fees a notch or two, and that's the main point everyone aims at, right? In other words, blame all the services still not having upgraded their operations.

Bitcoins high fees are a bit pain in the ass specially for the "low amount" holders of this crypto its a burden when your fee is higher than what you actually get. I think the big game changer this 2018 will be those alt coins with extremely low fees and no fees at all.

I will be studying those japanese alt coins that you have mentioned.  ;D

Agreed. BTC fee problem will be solved with LN.

Meanwhile, MONA is structured in a way that can handle a much larger quantity of transactions at a cheap cost.
It was the first coin to implement Segwit and devs are also working on LN.
So it is no surprise to me that Japanese merchants now accept it.

https://i.redd.it/euawyyx4o3501.jpg

Japan can be a central place in where bitcoincand cryptocurrency’s future can be determined because the whole world values Japan as a country where advancements has really made them prosper and if they can integrate bitcoin then it would be a big boon.

It was true, they want to ban everything that is related at some point with bitcoin and everything that concerns about it.
It will be a bad year for the Japanese holders, of course.

we have to know news about japan and what will happen , also what will happen in other countries , the bitcoin get much famous day after day , so we will see more countries accepted it and more ban it.

Wow bct is now a 'publishing' house that's funny.

I think 'posted' would have been more accurate.

Crypto has entered mostly business use, only digital coin I've seen in wide use is in SFL a centralized instant digital coin used only by businesses in a private barter network.

So if you are a member you get to take the coin and spend it with other business members.

The public is closed out.

B2B barter is a huge thing and that coin took over SFL.

I can't find one merchant to take a crypto coin in SFL but I can spend that barter coin all day.

So a mass merchant adoption coin is the key and with amex joining ripple that could easily become the first mass merchant coin.

Bitcoin was really becoming famous in each country, some sees this as an opportunity for their people and some country had pride enough and don't allow this kind of alternative money or this cryptocurrency to boom in their place since they cannot control it , they were so greed and selfish enough for not allowing this.

A girl told me ince , that in 2018 I must keep on eye on the asian market cause things will go nuts there in the good way. Also I have read that north koreea and Japan are buying more and more bitcoin and cryptos. Is this true ? Can be true ?

Hello. Thanks for this thread. I know NEM and will look up MONAcoin. I hope they dont ban it or overregulate it

Cheers

Not a lot is heard about MONA but a lot of people do know NEM, because it belongs to the group of coins that gets pumped every now and then. Japan can contribute a lot to the crypto economy but will MONA and XEM be a part of it? Maybe, maybe not. Only Japan's course of action won't do much change, the crypto economy should accept it, which most probably they will but still am dubious about the statement of yours where an altcoin is coming to the level of bitcoin for faster and cheaper transactions.

I hope that crypto will go mainstream or should I say ''legal''.
Maybe in 2018...I hope so, but this is going to be a battle.

wait. how do you know this info? source?

Wow what a great words . Thank you for your words  )

Japan knows how to take advantage of every new technology and later on they benefit from it. If all the countries looked on the long term, they would win a lot!

NEM transaction fees is low but in order to obtain NEM, we need to face the exchange withdrawal fees (deposit BTC > trade NEM > Withdraw). If Im not mistaken, Poloniex, Bittrex have 15-20 NEM fees as withdrawal fees so it's like paying $13-$17 at the current exchange rate. Since there is no direct purchase of NEM available at the moment without dealing on an exchange (correct me if Im mistaken here), people will have to used bitcoin first then deposit it to exchanges.

Well that is just based on the current status. Who knows in the future, there will be a standalone NEM exchanges where deposit and withdrawals are less cost.

Japan is going to be a big player next year , and is in the process of building some large bitcoin mining operations. they are going to be on the forefront of early adapters , it will be an interesting year, japan also leads the world in dept per consumer.

Yeah you're right, it seems the only way is dealing with an exchange... Hope it will be different in the future, that is quite a limitation.

Nah, forget about Europe mate. They hate bitcoin and crypto's. Only few countries are going to support it and most of them thinks bitcoin is just a bubble and threatens their financial stability. LOL. They really don't understand how bitcoin works and all they think is that it will be just used for illegal purposes. Plus, they have lots of problems to deal with so I don''t think that accepting bitcoin would be their main priority.


That's what you love about the Japanese though, they are truly a bitcoin haven, and even though that the fees are getting ridiculous they are still into it, because they have embrace and legalize bitcoin. Criminals might hold bitcoins, but there are a lot of bag holders as well who are still into bitcoin no matter what the cost of transactions. I guess its really part and parcel of bitcoin becoming very popular this year. We need to have patience and wait till Lightning Network can be implemented. Although there's no clear timeline as to when it will be activated.

Thanks a ton for the information you have shared is really worth reading it. I knew from the starting that Japan is playing the lead role in accepting the bitcoin as one of the international currency. I wish to see bitcoin soon be declared as single International payment system all over the world and it would not be possible without japan positive approach and their seriousness.

LN will be able to do everything other altcoins claim to do, and that all at an ultra low cost. Confirmations won't form a problem anymore, the current insanely limited number of transactions per second, fees, etc. I however find it quite an achievement for a mere redundant altcoin as Mona to have at least some sort of adoption. I however doubt that merchants will continue to adopt altcoins with LN knocking on Bitcoin's door. That being said, that B......Cash logo is just portraying itself to be Bitcoin, but we all know better. It's not for nothing that Roger Ver doesn't like the term BCash. Bitcoin has to be present in the name, otherwise that rubbish coin will miss out on so much free marketing and brand awereness. ::)

very good pos very imformativo if Japan is the first that gives legal framework to cryptocurrencies and if the bitcoin can be returned as gold recerves value and some other currency is the one that will be used as a daily payment method a coffee or a hamburger that's what you want and that they do not charge almost anything since it's going to be massive

Adoption of the NEM, MONA and other cryptocurrencies is very connected with the government politic point of each country!
As to Japan, it could be the first country where the crypto will gain mass adoption. But it will be only the payments inside Japan(
To gain real mass adoption we still need worldwide permission of the crypto to use(

Japan has managed to use bitcoin with these fees and with the high confirmation times so as soon as LN goes live it will be much better for them to use bitcoin for everyday things. According to NEM and MONA they will be accepted for a while still and the usage of LN will determine if they will be accepted in the future or bitcoin will be the one and only. What other countries should learn from Japan in connection with bitcoin is that if you can rule it (and not ban it) you can make advantage out of it at the end...

Japan contributes a lot when it comes to cryptocurrency because it is the first country to full recognized cryptocurrencies before any other country. Surely, people will be focusing and listening about the last crypto buzz from Japan, what are latest altcoins to invest in and so on. we are expecting to have more fun in 2018 better than this year 2017 and stack more bucks.

We are all looking at japan this coming year, since it had announce before that they will try to get rid of their fiat and will only use digital currency for transaction, what i see is that, it will happen and hopefully there will be a positive result, since there world is evolving, and luckily for us japan is fhere to lead the way when it comes to getting rid of fiat, if it will be a success, soon other countries will follow, since the they would wa t to miss out, and opportunities will be more accessible to there rest of the world, and will not be only focused on the western part, just like what we have now.

MONA might have some potential, but either way it's good that Japan's going full out and not being extremely restricting with their policies. Japan's certainly accounted for a large percent of the crypto market :)

My aunt is in Japan, I actually asked her to visit some stores in Japan that accepts Bitcoins, and ask her Japanese friends what they think about BTC. Definitely, BTC is here to stay, and as I wish, fees would drop, so more people would be encouraged to use it. Nevertheless, thanks for sharing!

Japan is trying to ban all the exchanges that are allowing bitcoin in there at the moment, maybe this is something "critical" for bitcoin, but the price is slowly recovering right now, so i dont know why a lot of people are worried about this situation.

Japan, on its verge to fully gain the potential of their economy, as it will rise upward and continually to grow.

As I know, Monacoin and NEM have been widely acceptable in Japan. Many shops and stores in Japan are accepting Monacoin and NEM as digital payments. For the Bitcoin, it might need to take some time, but I'm sure that Japanese will accept Bitcoin very soon, since Bitcoin's value is increasing day by day...

Don't forget that NEM and MONA can be bought directly vs Fiat on Japanese exchanges.
No BTC needed so reduced costs.

Not at all.
The Japanese exchanges are just being regulated, as they need to get a license from the financial authority. That's it.

Yes a bitcoin friendly legal environment in other countries is very important for cryptos in general. But it will take a long time.
Meanwhile, if Japanese alts become very used for payments in Japan, they will become popular in new countries adopting cryptos due to the network effect.

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information is very useful, and I am sure once a country that can manage bitcoin effectively and efficiently is a japanese state of course, thanks again for the information

JAPan can be a crucible for all pur concerns regarding cryptocurrency it can be our savior and it can also be our downfall depending on what and how japan would handle cryptocurrency or bitcoin on their country as they are considered the most advanced

very interesting overview, for me Japan has always been innovative in technology, and there is no surprise it is going to lead the crypto development.
I have relatives living in Japan, cryptos are getting more popular there, however it is still the beginning since a lot of people have no idea about what it is, similar as France where I am from.

Therefore it think it is a good time to get onboard, i got few alts and BTC of course, and have invested as well in MONA, since few months I am reading (getting translation from japanese friends) more and more articles, and they are talking about 5000 yen (44usd) per unit of MONA on a mid term probably in 2018.

Some people are already thinking about the Olympics in 2020, and if the crypto acceptance is still moving that fast there until then, there is no reason it will expand to other countries.

Among the comments, somebody was saying he will not focus on a crypto targeting one country. I don't agree, since first Japan is really active in the Asian area, and is followed by more countries, and Japan is exporting more than importing and will therefore have impact worldwide.

I believe in the crypto as asset and it seems these are keepers

I always felt that Japan's moves - official and unofficial - would be the blueprint for the rest of the world to follow. What surprised me was that not more countries, especially the neighbours and regional governments, picked up in the same directions, given that early success appears to be on the horizon. I think they have come a long way from dealing with the shock of Mt Gox, to giving legitimacy to Bitcoin and now surreptitiously aiding its use and adoption.

But time will tell if what they've done is enough. I appreciate the sentiments of those like Koji Higashi who believe not enough is done, and that the regulations so far are will fail if put to the test. But at least there will be a benchmark to test!

I think in any cases bitcoin can transact around the world and japan can also adapt bitcoin. I am dreaming also that can is stay have tourist ,visa to japan.

The popularity of Bitcoin is increasing day by day. Not only Japan, let's see what will happen in other countries. In near future 2018 will more crazy in Bitcoin world.

The Eastern Asia and Japan is really the region where situated the center of modern cryptocurrency world. There are a lot of people there who will become the holders of coins and users of all those digital platforms.

You can also look to Sumo coin - also from Japan. New coin and it is now rocking!!!

I expect nothing less from Japan knowing how advanced those people are in technology and gadgets. Japan has also one of the biggest malls of the world where you can use Bitcoin to buy things there directly being a leader in real world Bitcoin usage. If they move up one step more in 2018 this can only be positive for Bitcoin.

In 2017 with the support from Japan government the growth to higher level begun progressing good in terms of value as well in terms of spreading to people who are new to bitcoin. The government itself promoted its usage and by 2018 too such a kind of support is expected from Japan leading bitcoin and make it reach the global population.

The use cases of crypto are a bit overstated in my opinion. Prices are all speculation and traders know that perfectly well.

However, it doesn't mean that this massive flow of capital hasn't created some actual innovation. I'd really like the open source nature of cryptocurrency to grow because even if the economy becomes a thing of the past the only way for it to leave something behind would be if the technology survived.

Also, cryptocurrency hasn't been about giving back to the world's poorest. It's so far been trying to take wherever it can from people that actually do have the money to give. Never before has technology and innovation been rewarded at such a rapid rate. It's all a game of free markets and literally anyone could profit out of it. Poor or rich. The distribution of wealth crypto allows for is something new and Vitalik better not badmouth other cryptos.

Thank you for this article. I just  returned from Japan and decided to invest in bitcoin and mona as I saw stores accepting them. What is a good exchange to buy ? I live in belgium and i just start.

OP has indeed made some very good points in the little essay that he wrote, There are some good information here that he brought up that could be very good in terms of investment especially the Alt Coins in Japan which is indeed a country that we must watch.

Yeah the year 2017 is the good for Bitcoin because the Japan accepts Bitcoin as legal in their country. So the year 2018 should be the best year for Bitcoin in Japan. Because the previous history of Bitcoin shows that Bitcoin is good for that company or country that legalize Bitcoin. The popularity of Bitcoin is growing in the most advance countries is that represent Bitcoin’s future is too bright. All the businessmen keep eyes on Japan that how Bitcoin grows in their government.

Agree with the author. After a tremendous 2017 with BTC going mainstream and so many altcoins posting multiple digit profits, it was hard to lose money. Now 2018 could be a year with increased selectivity and picking the right coins will become more important. MONA definitely a card to play.

Thank you. You can open an account with Bitstamp to buy BTC and with Bittrex to convert some BTC into MONA.
This said, Bittrex is freezing new accounts now. So you may want to buy MONA thru one of your contacts in Japan.

This is very great news I ever heard about the coming 2018. Both excitements because we know that bitcoin will become one of the most payments of Japan then fear because we don't know if the bitcoin still stable in this kind of news. But probably all in all was great and I am too excited too face again another level for me to step in again with the crypto currencies in the coming 2018. Im so excited on how bitcoin exploded again and become more exposed to all.

This is really an eye opener for most of us. We all worship bitcoin as the best cryptocurrency, but nowadays it's lost it's value as a real currency because of the high fees and low transaction speed. It's just a matter of time that we'll see bitcoin being overtaken by other cryptocurrencies, unless these issues are solved.

Once LN is locked in, we shall see BTC becoming the ultra dominant coin again.
This article is mostly about understanding which coins may benefit from the current situation.
Thanks all for your comments

There must be a way to drop the cost of sending bitcoin, to speed transaction and enable payment for smaller amounts to be used for daily purchase or regular items, so we don't need any other altcoin.

Yes, the solution is Lightning Networks

Right now the fee stands at 510 Sat/Byte, which is lower than what we had two weeks ago (1,000+ Sat/Byte). But even now, close to $50 is needed as transaction fee for an average transaction and the situation is not very viable. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the dominance of BTC has dropped to 38% from the level of 61% which we had a month before.

In Japan, you can already pay in some stores with BTC, but MONA is developing, and several cryptos can co exist it is not a problem. Also, Japan is leading technology development in the Asia Pacific area, not to say worldwide so I would not say it is focused on one country!

This would be an interesting news for the japan entering cryptocurrency world. People wants faster transactions unlike which is happening with bitcoin today. If Nem and Mona would become reliable although its from japan, I thinks its a better gamble to it.

Japan has already entered cryptos !!! Cryptos have legal tender status and stores are accepting them.

https://i.redd.it/euawyyx4o3501.jpg

Yes agree that japan is potential market in 2018 too although japan is not biggest market.
Actually i also hope china will starting legalize bitcoin since there are a big market in china but it seems like will not happen.

We had seen a big rise in price when it comes to bitcoin and the world is aware of the new technology and the people who ignored in the past also started taking interest in the new revolution and i expect this year to be the year of the alt coin market as the entire market was silent when the price of bitcoin was rising and i am waiting for that rise and thanks for the info about the Japanese coins,will monitor it closely.

Maybe he's not updated on what happened last year on Japan. They are already in bitcoin and after announcing it to the public there is a company that's about to give fraction of the salary of their employees in bitcoin which is interesting on their part. Japan is one of the biggest supporter of bitcoin after China declared that they are banning ICOs and that also affected bitcoin, they have been quiet for a while.

PS. I don't like that picture that they are accepting bitcoin cash.

Couldn't agree more with you even if it sadly shows that BTC is not suitable for small payments at this stage.

https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/btc/analysis/USD (https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/btc/analysis/USD)

BTC trading volume in JPY is often the strongest.
Currently only surpassed by USD but keep in mind that it includes Bitfinex a Hong Kong based platform. It means that Japan has a sole country is the biggest buyer.

this is good info and complete, I hope with such statements could be a trigger for other countries and triggers the rise in bitcoin prices.

This is good news for Japanese citizens.
not for Southeast Asian countries, here is still very traditional.
technological advances are perceived as threats with various issues. such as bitcoin is considered a medium for terrorist attacks and drug sales. they do not see the positive side

I'd love to see Japan step up and be innovative with blockchain technology but also first and foremost adopt Bitcoin even further than they have. They still have technology prowess all though they have an aging population I think this sort of stuff is what would revive it and inspire the youth to get going.

Imagine 2020, olympics in Japan, all those lucky hodlers of monacoin since it was released can now enjoy their coins. Monacoin was undervalued before, but now it's 9-10 USD per coin.

Yes, I really believe that Japan will be the engine of the crypto world. If adoption is too slow, it may be a brake too !

Hi there Calangaman! Thank you for the detailed paper you have written in there. I should better watch those coins that you mentioned. But as for now, based on different sources bitcoin is still the king in terms of mining, trading and company acceptance in Japan. If the Japanese people will have all their support in NEM and MONA, this could really disturb and bring those token on top ten list. As far as I know, Ripple is also famous in Japan thru is vast wide support in terms of payment schemes that pose to go along side with the banks.  ;)

Thanks for your nice words.
Of course BTC is king and shall remain so. However, it is no longer suitable for small transactions at shops until Lightning is launched. So my guess is that the local alts will fill the gap in the meantime.

Everybody tells us LN will solve BTC high fee problem. Just wait a little... How long will this «a little» take? So I hope an epoch of fast alts such as NEM is coming and they will solve this problem!  Anyway long live NEM! ;)

Huobi already moving from China to Japan and Japan’s Bitcoin Effect as 0.3% of GDP - Japan will become one of the most Bitcoin Friendly Countries in 2018, I guess.  https://www.bitcoinmarketinsider.com/japans-gdp-grows-due-to-bitcoin-wealth-effect/

Even if the fees will be 1/2 or even 1/4 from what they are now they would still be too high for daily usage. Imagine you would have to pay 5-10 bucks every time you buy something with your credit card. I don't think Segwit and LN would decrease the fees to less than 1 USD, so even if bitcoin sustains, there is surely a room of alts to take over in areas where using BTC will simply not be worth it.

Currently, Japan is the cryptocurrency center of the world and Japan was always active in cryptocurrency development research and It worked out perfectly. In addition, Japan is also was heaven for "cryptocurrency fans" like my family.

many country is looking on Japan. I still hope Japan countinous support bitcoin and other altcoin

Not sure how you derive your fee analysis.
Don't forget that Lightning Networks enables atomic swaps with the other segwit and LN coins like LTC, VTC and MONA so if BTC remains too expensive, these other coins will greatly benefit from it.

In Japan there is a bar called Nembar, which can be paid by nem

2018 should be the year that decides whether crypto become s main stream. Japan I think will be the cutting edge while everyone else follow s suit

It's probably too ambitious to expect a crypto to become really mainstream by year end. Adoption takes time.

However, some Japanese alts may grow their network significantly while BTC remains expensive to transact with.

I agree with you. Japan is one of big market before and next future.
After legalyzing bitcoin, japan announce to their citizens all about that currency. It means japaness now realize and  will invest on it.

This is looking good for Bitcoin since more Japanese business will adapt to the technology. The only drawback here is that it could add more to the congestion and already high fees. I hope improvements will be made soon though.

Thanks for the information. Time to keep an eye to Japan's cryptocurrencies for now.

It's a pity that Japanese local law focus only on top crypto-currencies.
Small cap coins (like Passive Coin for example) has not any chance to list at Japanese exchange.

Have some Japanese followers and holders of our Passive Coin and found Japanese people as great crypto-enthusiasts and long-term supporters for sensible crypto-projects.
Hope to see more Japanese promoting crypto and BTC usage. :) 
 

Japan is making a very clever move. Japanese are very open-minded and they accept the new things fast, that is why Japan is controlling some key technic in the world although they are in a tiny land.   :D

Thanks for your very interesting analisys. In fact, NEM's price is skyrocketing right now, and I wonder if it could be connected with what you have said, that Japan has started recognizing cryptocurrencies.

Long text but very helpful! Thanks. As what we are expecting in Japan, Japan will innovate more the usage of cryptocurrency. Japan altcoin has the potential to move forward. Nem and MONA are different in bitcoin or ethereum. They will solve the current problem about transaction fees and slow speed of transaction.
I think 2018 will be the great age of cryptocurrency and because Japan will enter the cryptocurrency, many countries will now pull out to join crypto world. I hope this will be a great start to us and somehow, all crypto enthusiast will become successful.
2018 will be the opening year of cryptocurrency, Japan will lead to the innovation and more efficiently altcoin.

1USD fee would solve a lot of problems, now I agree that you won't use your Bitcoin on a daily basis to buy "many stuff" but don't worry, I don't think Bitcoin was ever invented to be a daily life payment solution. Fiat currencies won't disappear, but even if Bitcoin is used in 10% of all transactions in the US for instance, the price would reach at least 100k USD, and it is not out of the realm of possibilities in the next 5 years if everything goes well.

Hi Thanks for your kind words
No, I don't think it's related to this.
Most coins valued 1$ like XRP, ADA, XLM etc, shot up because of noob money.

XEM and MONA are different animals.
I think the Japanese don't realize that they have a mini-BTC with MONA in particular.
We will see.

OH! Good to know and also many thanks for sharing. Yea! waiting for Japan 2018.  ::)

have you looked at cardano?

The digital currency was originated from Japan. If there are new changes from them I think it should be respected. If not from them we are not enjoying the benefits of cryptocurrencies. Thanks for this valuable information.

thanks for sharing mate,i think bitcoin in Japan  will be good prospects.
I am looking forward to the development of 2018.

Yes, ADA and XEM have similiarities. These are blockchain protocols. I find them harder to value than pure cryptos like MONA.

Yes bitcoin and all japanese cryptos in particular shall be monitored

definitely Japan is doing a real promotion for cryptos!!!
https://news.bitcoin.com/japanese-virtual-currency-girls-spreading-cryptocurrency-knowledge/?utm_source=OneSignal+Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push+Notifications

I have read this in other places and the truth also I think that for the whole world 2018 will be a year of change, Japan is opening much more to the digital age. We accept it?

Interesting read. Im also invested in both coins because I think that they have a lot of potential and as Japan is very cryptofriendly I think they have an additional accelerator from this.
Ive also invested in Mona some time ago. But to be honest the performance of it wasnt really a pleasure to watch so far. It seemed more of a p&d than a organic growth. Now the coin is valued again at about the same level as I bought it. Well, I will just keep holding and watch where this is going.

You can advocate Japan, or you can oppose, but there is one reality here is that Japan is the coutry which supports blockchain and bitcoin adoption in a mass scale at its best. We really thank Japanese government for this, anyway.

No doubt  about this that japan given a very good support to  bitcoin in its early stage and that is the reason that now we can see that people are more interested in bitcoin, we can hope that in future more countries will follow Japan and will make bitcoin as legal currency in their country to be use for buying selling things. Actually online currency is now the need of the new generation and we have to accept the fact about it.

That's some very exciting news, I was not so much aware of Japanese market and bitcoin future there.

Japan as one of the country that are been taking a lot of good things  to be and they take the advantages of some technologies so no worry and been surprise on it cause this is what they wanted to have for.

Going strictly with my gut, I think you are correct here. Factoring the ability of governments to squash it makes adoption tricky, however, it has survived this long and survived well. It may become a bad investment but I think it will carry on as a legitimate currency.

This is very good news hope it will happen

Japanese Yen is regularly the number 1 currency for worldwide crypto volumes.

Japan always see the future in the right way , I am sure other counties are watching closely how it will develop there too. If everythings works out like it was planned, they might repeat their experience.

Japan is a very progressive country in terms of economics and computer innovations. I think that bitcoin is waiting for a very promising future, as well as the rest of the market for crypto currency.

japan is another big giant country who supoort bitcoin and i can say japan will support trading always bcz trading improved their GDP LAST YEAR.
if japan support another crypto it will be big for that crypto.

The Japanese is really the innovators of technology. The have embrace bitcoin so much that they are now the at the forefront of this technology. It's really a positive vibes when they enter the market last year and they are the one who are really pushing bitcoin's price and recognition globally.

So they are really the nation to look upon in terms in bitcoin and crypto's. They already set a precedence. As 2018 usher a new era, a lot of nation will decide its own direction as far as crypto's. And they can draw inspirations on how the Japanese government adopted bitcoin. There are countries that will put a hammer ban on bitcoin but I'm sorry that they will be left out when the crypto exploded again this year.

If you look in the past couple of years all the major volumes are from the Asian markets,earlier China dominated but now Korea and Japan are dominating the vast majority and with the news that came out recently that the Koreans are planning to ban exchanges all together it will be interesting to see how things end up,when the Chinese markets were closed Japan and Korea stepped up,it is an interesting year .

It was happening before since Asia is big continent so there's no surprise that Asian will adopt cryptocurrency as the whole world starting to realized their worth and Japanese people are good at managing their economy that's why so much hardworking people in Japan helps to improve their own country. If people will learn and manage to cope on how Japanese people do it, they might help their country to grow fast.

Japan is one of a good example of a hard-working country.

yes it is true, japan became bitcoin and crypto referrals for other countries, with this advancement will trigger bitcoin development all over the world, this is very good for the progress of digital economy of the future.

ADA is NOT Japan coin

It is true that Japan cannot be doubted in the field of technology, even the creator of bitcoin when viewed from his nickname, it is a name derived from Japan country  ;D. The possibility of Japan will take an active role in addressing the biggest issues of bitcoin today, namely very high transaction fee and very slow transactions. Although altcoin originating from Japan should be a concern this year, but remember, that they also have their own company. I believe that Japan wants this technology to impact the whole world, not only benefit the country alone.

Whale coming on MONA !

Buy order for 76 BTC on Bittrex !

https://image.ibb.co/hjxCz6/MONA_Bittrex_png.jpg

Japanese translation:

2018年は日本に大注目

***************************************************************************************************************
本稿では、2017年末の仮想通貨（暗号通貨）市場の状況と、仮想通貨コミュニティが直面している課題について説明します。仮想通貨に優しい法的枠組みのおかげで、2018年は日本が注目すべき国となっています。ビットコインの現在の高い取引手数料は日本の仮想通貨資産に新しい機会を与えるとともに、日本の、また、世界の新しい支払い方法になると予想されます。
***************************************************************************************************************

振り返れば、2017年は仮想通貨（暗号通貨）の世界にとって素晴らしい年でした。  投資家はビットコイン（BTC）で20倍、イーサー（ETH）では100倍、ライトコイン（LTC）では60倍の利益を得ました。ドル換算で考えると、お金を失うことは非常に難しい一年でした。


この異例の業績は、ビットコインがよりよく世界に知られるよう、開発者、取引所、ロビイスト、作者などからの長年の努力による成果です。機関投資家と個人投資家がこの新しい資産クラスに一緒になることで、仮想通貨の市場は主流になりつつあります。つまり「多ければ多いほどよい」という訳です。

確かに、新しい加入者の流入は、仮想通貨資産の価値の急上昇に大きく影響しました。

しかしそのせいで、混雑したブロックチェーン、取引コストの高騰、取引時のクラッシュなどの問題も起きました。

今年は仮想通貨が名を上げましたが、新生状態を乗り越え、成熟した決済方法になるためには、多くのことが行われなければなりません。

勿論、これらを達成するには時間がかかります。

12月13日、イーサリアム（Ethereum）の創始者であるVitalik Buterin（ヴィタリック・ブテリン）は、ツイッターで彼のフォロワーたちに次の様に問いかけました。
•   「仮想通貨の時価総額は今日、５千億ドルになりましたが、果たしてこれは私たちの努力の成果でしょうか？」
•   「これまで銀行口座を持っていなかった人を、何人銀行に加入する事ができたでしょうか？」
•   「実際にあるマイクロペイメントチャネルの使用状況はどれくらいでしょうか？」

人々の日常生活の中で実際に使用することがなければ、仮想通貨とトークンの99％は面白い投資だったと記憶されるだけで、まるで蜃気楼のようになってしまいます。

これからはビットコインの時代です。

ビットコインは現在、ファーストムーバーアドバンテージがあり、最大のネットワークを持ち、また、公正優遇とその希少性などの特性は、ビットコインを真の「デジタルゴールド」にします。まさに仮想通貨の基準です。これらの理由で、ビットコインは生き残り、少なくとも価値保存手段としての役割を果たすことでしょう。

ビットコインは交換手段となるように構成されていましたが、使用できるには時間がかかったり、価値が高かったりします。先発者ではありますが、それなりに欠陥もあります。ビットコインブロックは1メガバイトの大きさで、10分ごとに起こります。毎分、何千もの新しい取引に対処するには全く十分ではありません。ビットコインマイナー（ビットコインのマイニングを行う人や機関）にはブロック内には高額の手数料が付いた取引が含まれています。

つまり、もはやビットコインは小規模取引のための交換媒体ではないと言えます。

しかし、それは一時的な事かもしれません。

ビットコインネットワークにライティングネットワーク（Lightning Networks : LN）ソリューションを導入することで、ビットコインは再び素晴らしいものになります。 しかし、これはいつ起こるのでしょうか？

今年の夏に、分離監視（Segwit）ソリューションが開始されたときと同じように、コミュニティは分離してしまうのでしょうか。

誰にも分りません。途中でさらに12ヶ月から18ヶ月の進展と失敗を繰り返すかもしれません。

では、その間に何が起こるのでしょうか？

何百万人もの人々が仮想通貨（暗号通貨）を認識し、ビットコインブロックチェーンが中ぶらりんになっていることを知っている今、アルトコイン（Altcoin）が全ての取引においての優先コインになる大きな機会があります。

コインの価値は、主にネットワークの規模に依存することを覚えておきましょう。 より多くの人々が使用するほど、その価値は高くなります。

また、クレジットカードのかわりにビットコインを受け入れる商業者の数は、まだ世界的に少ないです。精良なアルトコインは、商業者にとって好まれるコインとして、すぐにでもビットコインを追い越すことができるでしょう。

したがって、ビットコインキャッシュ（BCH）サポーターがメディアで非常に声高であることは驚くことではありません。 ビットコインキャッシュ（BCH）は、ブロックサイズが8メガバイトであるため、取引コストを削減できます。 こうすることで、ギャップを埋めることができました。

ライトコインLitecoin（LTC）はまた別の候補です。 これはビットコインのクローンで、ブロックが大きくて頻繁です。またセグウィット（Segwit）もあります。

結局は、ユーザー自身の好みで、保証のあるコインを選択するでしょう。

しかし、法的枠組みも選択される際に重要な役割を果たします。

ほとんどの国では、ビットコイン、及び仮想通貨の法的地位は依然として不明確です。

なぜ商業者が、仕組みを理解しにくい上に政府が一晩で禁止することもありうる仮想通貨を受け入れる事があるでしょうか？

日本政府は昨年4月に仮想通貨（暗号通貨）を法定通貨として認めました。 これは、日本人や商業者による急速な採択に近づくための大きな一歩です。
さて、支払いを保証するのはどのコインでしょうか？

ビットコインキャッシュでしょうか？ ライトコインでしょうか？ 多分、どちらでもないでしょう。 これらのコインは日本では知られていますが、おそらく現地の仮想通貨コミュニティのサポートがありません。

また、日本には独自のアルトコインがあります。NEM と MONAです。

それらのデザインは非常に異なっています。 NEMは、 イーサー（Ether）に類似しているため、NEM搭載のブロックチェーンとスマートコントラクトの作成が可能です。 90億のトークンが敷かれています。 トランザクションは、重要度証明方法のノードに基づいて検証されます。

また、MONAはより頻繁なブロックを持つLTCのフォーク（子プロセス）で、 ゲーマーの間では非常に人気があり、ITストアでもすでに受け入れられています。 コインは、伝統的なプルーフ・オブ・ワーク法でマイニングされます。

双方のコインは現地で強い支持を受けていて、日本の取引所ではフィアットに対して直接購入することができます。

このため、2018年は日本のアルトコインを注意深く見守るべきです。

日本での仮想通貨の明確な法的枠組みとそのコミュニティの取り組みによって、現地商業者による採択は促進されるでしょう。

日本で広く受け入れられれば、ネットワーク効果により世界各地で大人気となることでしょう。

Already following them for the last month, I am fascinated by the intelligence of Janapnese government, always one step ahead.

This is great insight. Thank you for sharing.

I agree , all eyes on Japan , I really love how this country is making an example for the whole world. Regarding crypto of the future, I would say EOS and Steem. Steem is the fastest crypto on the market now and has a great potential. Fees are also very cheap.

Thank you guys, feel free to circulate the Japanese version to your Japanese friends.

Very good analysis. Japan is a strong supporting party.

I think Canada and japan is gonna do very well this year in crypto. So I'm gonna buy some japanese and Candian ICO and coins in next few weeks.

Japan is the great country, and I hope to visit Japan this year.
Knowing that cryptocurrency is very popular in Japan, I haven't seen many ICOs, Projects of Japanese origin here.
I think may be that's because Japanese people have own forums, own places to discuss.
If somebody has a list or just few ongoing projects, ICOs to name - that would be good.

Are you sure that it's right to call NEM Japanese project?
On the site the team is quite intertnational.

Also wikipedia says:
"The NEM.io Foundation launched NEM's Blockchain Center in a 10,000-square foot facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to serve as an accelerator, incubator and coworking space."

The information is very interesting though long. I have lived in Japan and admired his discipline and morale. Probably very good if bitcoin becomes the digital currency there. Certainly must be with a strategy that is right for people to use it.

Ah I want crypto to be legal. I want to pay taxes for crypto.
I want to live from crypto and I want to use it everyday.

Neo is going to be the coin that's used in Asia and it's a bit like ETH but fifty times faster
so yes they will place restrictions on western crypto-coins just like they west likes to do
with the rest of the world.

Japan, South Korea will jump on board with China and we will be left with Ripple if no one
gets something sorted out this end and clearly Bitcoin cannot scale and has just become a
rip-off in terms of fees and it won't take long for ETH (Twice as fast as BTC) to start running
into scaling problems too.

IOTA is about ten times faster than a mere 7 transactions per second we get here and sad to
say it's just not enough but before you bang on about lighting network the study up first like
I have done. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2776719.msg28395400#msg28395400

Banks are being built into Bitcoin under your noses and yes anyone can host a bank/hub but you
need lots of BTC and hardware and then hope the miners don't block you out because they will
be looking to host the banks.

I admit that Japan is the country with the greatest interest in crypto. It is evident that Japan now holds the title as the country with as the largest Bitcoin Market in the world.

Thanks for sharing this.. i'm big fan of XEM because my mentor is one of my Mentor is part of XEM Community.. they have real use cases and i think this year would be good for xem ofcourse.

I have always admire japan in this kinds of feat because they are embracing the change faster than anyone else with a strong willed discipline i guess its their culture they are too hospitable and they really embrace what their country is practicing like they are advance creatures that don't what to stop working  ;D its one of their assets that's why crypto currencies are really matched to the way they lived.

I watch lots of things about the world and wonder what are the things that makes a country to be great than any other countries. One of the best country for me is Japan because of the individual's discipline and also the one who made the trends in technology. Japanese are cool and smart which result of fast changing of their environment especially in their fiat less transaction.

Indeed, for now, Japan's policy on cryptocurrency is quite friendly, and it is widely used to promote cryptocurrency.
The Japanese are highly sensitive to the future and the next generation of innovative technologies, which is why Japan has developed so quickly.

If Japan's advanced state can accept cryptocurrencies and recognize the legitimacy of bitcoin, I think Bitcoin will gradually be accepted in other countries as well.

Some founders are Japanese. Actually, the CEO of Japan's ZAIF exchange is on the NEM board.

Imagine the panic when we see news about Japan banning btc, ICO, exchangers )))

FYI MONA coin just performed a successful atomic swap on Friday. MONA is a fork of Litecoin and was the first coin to implement Segwit.
Tech wise, it's a very solid coin, suitable for payments.

https://monappy.jp/memo_logs/view/nontarouchannel/2493 (https://monappy.jp/memo_logs/view/nontarouchannel/2493)  (Japanese content)

Japan's bitcoin is legal, and Japan has a lot of crypto-currency in the world!
In Japan bitcoin can be bought and sold on its own, or shopping in shops.
Japan can better promote the promotion of digital currency in east Asia! The prospects for bitcoin in 2018 are great!

Yup, especially now that some companies in Japan are paying bitcoin for their clients this is a start of something positive in bitcoin this 2018.

If japan will use bitcoin in their country to improve their economy then probably, they will be the richest country in the world since bitcoins value today is increasing rapidly. Their government has a great choice and the community will not suffer in poverty.

FYI Bitflyer, the largest Japanese Exchange, is starting its European operations after a successful registration in the US.

It could be potentially be good for MONA as it is listed on Bitflyer in Japan and may also be offered to European and American investors versus fiat! XEM to be added soon on Bitflyer too.

https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/bitflyer-licensed-eu-becomes-worlds-compliant-exchange/ (https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/bitflyer-licensed-eu-becomes-worlds-compliant-exchange/)

Talking about NEM, do you think for projects will choose it as platform?
I know at least Loyalcoin, I participate in bounty program, it will end soon.
Do you know other projects, ICOs based on NEM?

Apart from crypto, I'm planning to visit Japan some day, as there are some Japanese writers whom I like

Of course. In general they say in the spring of 2018, that it's gonna be the spring of cryptocurrency. Japan is encouraging that in many ways. Buying cryptocurrency in large volumes.

World is looking at japan mainly the reason is if any country ban bitcoin or icos or exchanger or mining japan will take advantage

Once again in a declining market, Mona is gaining value in satoshi terms. It means that support is here !

Love going to Japan.   Just wish it was easier to open up a bank account there.   At present, unless you're a resident there, it's near impossible.

Thank you sharing this post, full of information. I really admire how Japan handles and manages Bitcoin, I hope more countries will follow their lead in efficiently using Bitcoin for their advantages, there will be no wonder if Japan's economy will go sky rocket by the end of the year.

interisting what you share to us. I know that the bitcoin feture will be developed by their developers. Probably the development of bitcoin feture is very slow with the existence of too large fee. hopefully in the future there is a solution with a fee from bitcoin..

Have investing Mona since the start of the year. Hope the market will bounce after the Chinese new year. The FUD are all over the news which really make investors hard to enter.
Hope the hack in NEM where already traced. Their a lot issue concerning its security on how it happened but they only suspend withdrawals of all cryptocurrencies except bitcoin.

Japan has almost a unique position towards bitcoin in east Asia (looks like Singapore is bitcoin friendly too). In Europe, there are a few countries like Belarus, Cyprus, Malta which try to attract the money by taking a similar position.

Now the way I see it: bitcoin can have a future, but this future will need to rely on the big efforts of a few countries (the ones mentioned above + a few others), which means it will take a lot of time, especially if in the same time USA, Germany France decide to take restrictive measures.

2018 looks like it could be a year of transition:
-Lightning Network getting more and more adopted
-regulations in most western countries (already happening)
-more and more restrictions regarding services offering a bitcoin mastercard + services like Advcash (bitcoin related), Payeer, affected by these measures

So 2018 all things considered is not looking great for those looking at a short term profit.
But it could be an opportunity to get bitcoin at a lower price, see how G20 summit unfolds in April, see if Lightning Network gets more and more used, and (back on topic) see if the bitcoin friendly countries can push bitcoin on the way up again.

I have been following Mona for quite a time. Didn't expected the coin that it would drop this much.
Also like NEM, but I'm not sure their infrastructure for smart contracts are that good. It would like to favor Cardano instead.
Let us please hope that countries will take an example of Japan.

Also, do you think it's a good thing that Russia will create their own digital coin?

You should not measure alts performance in dollar terms but in satoshi terms (vs BTC).
MONA is resisting fine vs BTC.

Russia may launch a digital coin but this will be a centralized one. Value comes from decentralization.