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As one of the world's leading economies with countless cutting edge technologies, Japan has maintained its high-profile status for many decades. Even in this World Cup, Japan has defeated Germany and Spain, striving to the next level of competition. It seems that Japan does not need to prove to be a great nation to the world. However, in the crypto industry, we barely heard anything great from Japan, no leading blockchain ecosystem or any cryptocurrency exchange alike. Why ? Please correct me if I am wrong.

Not really sure because I'm not from Japan, but they have a few exchanges as far as I know; and just recently Binance bought the Sakura Exchange: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/30/binance-enters-japan-with-acquisition-of-regulated-crypto-exchange-sakura/

As for blockchain ecosystems, isn't the main point of most(if not all) blockchain projects the fact that they don't need to be tied to a specific country(but instead global)?

  - As far as I know, the country of Japan is also a believer in cryptocurrency and is also open to it. Knowing if this country is also among the developed countries because of the technology they have.

I can't say that Japan is left behind when it comes to cryptocurrency. Because recently Binance has been reacquired in this country of regulations as far as I know dude  read this (https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-acquires-regulated-crypto-exchange-in-japan)

Not from Japan but they strongly have a hold on crypto currency. Coupled with the fact that people rumoured Satoshi to be from there. Compared to other big Asian countries like China they seem friendly to bitcoin adoption. I even read sometime ago that they relaxes some of there laws to allow people trade in bitcoin. They also have registered exchanges like Bitflyer, coincheck. The country also has some bitcoin ATM which is another step that they are actually friendly to crypto currency.

The image below from statista shows percentage of Japanese that uses crypto currency. Although the statistics its a bit old I feel there has been massive changes to that percentage since its laws against it has been relaxed.

https://i.postimg.cc/7LJTtZpy/japan-how-common-is-crypto.webp

Bitcoin is accepted even before as far as my knowledge which I read from news. But we don't hear a lot of noise about it because their system is working. The no physical contact transaction which just use QR codes to pay everything. Their own digital transactions. If it's working and it's not giving them any trouble, then why change it?
They are one of the top in cashless basis transaction but it's not just cryptocurrencies.

They've been an open country to crypto and blockchain and there's no problem to them because it's legal there.
Like for this news: Japan to Further Relax Crypto Rules by Easing Listings of Tokens (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-19/japan-to-further-relax-crypto-rules-by-easing-listings-of-tokens)
So, in many things they are thriving and also recovering just like the other countries that have been hit badly by the pandemic. The JPY has also lost a part of its value but inflation there isn't that high as the other countries due to the high prices of fuel.

And did you know that Japan is the first in something else, not very popular?


Also, considering the fact that Mt.Gox was based in Japan and that they have not been able to solve this problem to this day perhaps best speaks to the fact that not everything is in that country as some people think.

As for the sports results you mentioned, beating Germany, which is not even a shadow of what it used to be, or Spain, which wanted to avoid winning the first place in the group in order to avoid Brazil in further competition, is not really something to judge their strength on. The real test is next Monday when they play against the finalists of the last World Cup.

Crypto is legal in japan and there are huge number of users are in that country so most provably they also need cryptocurrency for daily usage on some japanese citizens. Maybe you just didn't notice it but actually there is a big exchange which is Sakura exchange has been acquired by binance for expansion plan on japan you can read the article here about their acquisition Binance acquired sakura exchange article (https://thepaypers.com/cryptocurrencies/binance-acquires-sakura-exchange-bitcoin-for-an-undisclosed-sum--1259337#:~:text=SEBC%20is%20a%20JFSA%2Dregistered,at%20the%20time%20of%20writing)

For that Binance see a huge market there that's why we cannot say that they don't need crypto because there are to many people use this before and even by now.
 

Japan is a Bitcoin-friendly country because the currency can be used for any form of payment without restrictions. But exchanges are subjected to the strict anti-money laundering (AML) legislation which put them under government regulations.

I also agree that based on the technological advancement of Japan they should have been a key player in the crypto space. Maybe the focus of the Japanese government is not on the crypto industry or most crypto companies are scared of regulations. They don't want to be liable when the company fails..

They're not too loud doesn't mean they're lagging, as I know japan has been a pretty open country to crypto for a long time but what I don't like about them is the government taxing relatively high who earn in crypto. But you're right about not having too much fuss, a lot of projects come from Korea, but I also hardly see any projects with Japanese developers behind.
Recently, Binance has officially entered the Japanese market with the acquisition of sakura exchange, hoping that binance can promote the crypto industry to become stronger in Japan.

Japan has no military capability worth speaking of, which leaves it a vassal state to foreign interests and foreign powers. They bully japan and force it to comply with international demands. This has been demonstrated in several different areas over the past few decades. While japan has been a hotbed of technological advancement, it is not independent enough to forge its own policies on cryptocurrencies and is forced to comply with international regulation and narratives.

If anyone wants an example of how japan has been unable to stand up for itself, they can look at the large number of japanese prime ministers who were forced to resign over the last 20 years. Unfortunately politics, military and economic concerns do factor in here. In ways which many might not expect.

Japan's culture trends towards embracing long term value, over short term gain. Culturally it parallels the HODL nature of bitcoin and other crypto. Naturally japan should be a hotspot for crypto development.

It's only natural that almost everyone doesn't know any news from Japan, even though Japan is categorized as a developed country, both from economic, political, social and other perspectives, it's as if nothing has happened in Japan. Values of mutual respect and respect, especially respecting a teacher, make Japanese people more disciplined and have very good ethics. Judging from the criminal record in Japan, it is very small compared to other countries.


Yes, maybe this is what causes Japan to prefer silence and not act much because the cryptocurrency is still in conflict with some world leaders, or maybe they are researching cryptography technology first without disclosing it to any media so that failures like Mt Gox don't happen again.

afaik they have adopted BTC long time ago. there were articles about it even in 2017. Mtgox (Karpeles) and Roger Ver stays in Japan because they can spend BTC casually in Japan. that was years ago. i don't know today.


they use to be leaders in the technology. Nokia was the first to have made the phones available to everyone. Japan was suppressed by a threatened empire. they didn't push back unlike China and Nokor. today, the seas near Japan is where they test their missiles to see if US reacts and will go to war for Japan. sad reality.

And Ghana has defeated South Korea, does this make Ghana more technologically advanced in any field than SK?
Or more bitcoin-friendly?


Do you actually think that Nokia is a Japanese brand?
God, it's so funny to see all these experts in geopolitics and global economy casting their opinion when they don't know even basic stuff.

Anyhow, how does somebody define being in the first place in the crypto industry?
Have exchanges operating from your country? Then the Bahamas was a leading country till...a month ago!
Developing shit tokens that fail two months after launch?
What are the others criteria cause the two above really suck!?

If that's the question, I can give a little answer that in the past Japan imposed exorbitant taxes on crypto exchanges and also on crypto users so that there was no blockchain ecosystem and exchanges that developed well there and became famous like some of the existing exchanges at the time. I say this after reading an article that really concerns your question.

However, in another article it was also stated that the Japan Crypto and Virtual Asset Exchange Association as the regulator dealing with crypto assets in Japan has recently released a plan document to facilitate crypto laws related to official exchanges to register digital currencies by relaxing their screening process.

Reference:
[1] https://www.fortuneidn.com/finance/ (https://www.fortuneidn.com/finance/tanayastri/pajak-kripto-jepang-bikin-sebagian-pemain-hengkang)
[2] https://wartaeconomic.co.id/read453193/ (https://wartaekonomi.co.id/read453193/regulator-jepang-longgarkan-uu-kripto-untuk-permudah-pendaftaran-koin)

I think japan is not lagging behind in crypto at all. However, it seems that the tax policy implemented there is quite difficult for crypto players there. But at least crypto has received attention from the government there. but the high taxes imposed make many crypto players leave there. an example of this is the crypto project Astar Network - a multi-chain decentralized application hub built by someone called Sota Watanabe. (Sourch - https://www.fortuneidn.com/finance/amp/tanayastri/pajak-kripto-jepang-bikin-sebagian-pemain-hengkang )

And there are still many crypto projects originating from Japan. However, the policies that were too heavy from the Japanese government could indeed make people there more closed off not to expose their projects and prefer to leave there.

I guess, Japan government are still looking for way to remove the tax they imposed to crypto users in the country, because they came to discovered that  crypto users are not earning well because of the tax imposed on them compared to other countries that made it free from their citizens to earn well  from their crypto investment. I believe, very soon Japan citizens will start enjoying what other countries like El Salvador, Brazil and other countries that made crypto legalized for their people to use it positively to grow their businesses in the country.  

It may not only too noticeable since there much more other developers in Asia like China and Singapore who widely promote their projects than them. Plus the strict implementation of crypto transactions in them makes them silent about it. But in terms of accepting and having exchanges they have local exchanges that are approve by their regulators where they can buy and sell their crypto. Since Japan is more popular in their Technology advancement as welll tourism and entertainment, the focus of cryptocurrency in their country is not much a talk of the town but we still see they are making progress like having Binance.

Actually before 4-5 years ago Japan was literally doing amazing things with the crypto. They even experimented the Bitcoin OTC program where over the counter buying and selling was completely legalised throughout the country and they started with it real quick. I think in 2017 bill Japan had many things to contribute on since they were using bitcoin on larger scale. Now I am not sure the documented scale matches to this or not but definitely Japan has lost the track after covid. In fact there is also not much of news about the Japan recently which connects with bitcoin. That’s actually strange.

I don't really know about this but recently I read that the Association of Japanese Crypto Asset Exchanges (JVCEA) is currently starting to loosen some of the things related to Crypto in its listings so indeed this could be a good signal for Japanese citizens and indirectly encouraging that they are now starting to open up with Crypto.
I don't know much about this but one thing is certain when something like this happens it will most likely generate more interest than before.

They arent that left behind nor ignore this industry.

Binance Enters Japan With Acquisition of Regulated Crypto Exchange Sakura (https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/30/binance-enters-japan-with-acquisition-of-regulated-crypto-exchange-sakura/)
Binance acquires regulated crypto exchange in Japan  (https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-acquires-regulated-crypto-exchange-in-japan)

These are newest or latest update in regarding crypto matter in Japan.I dont know if this one counts that they are really that falling behind.
They might look be silent or do shows that they dont care at all but its impossible that they wont really be making consideration on this market.

Yeah, they aren't lagging because I never heard cryptos was banned there but only in China and some similar countries. Cryptos there might be taxed but it's better to work this way than totally banning it. This still allows users to experience crypto while helping the development of the country through taxes so they shouldn't see this as a bad thing unless only if the tax goes in the wrong hands and won't be used properly.

I think high taxes only works if the person or the company is also earning high but if they are a starter then they should be exempted to this but the charge should depend on how much they are earning, only to be fair and won't cause discouragement.

AFAIK, Japan has a major problem with the nation getting older and older. It's partly due to a culture of lots of respect for the elderly, partly due to a high stage of development which allows people to live till older age. Given that cryptos are fairly new, and the main user base seems to be fairly young, it wouldn't be surprising if Japan is falling back in this regard. That being said, I thought Japan was generally crypto-friendly and is currently working on becoming even friendlier. After all, cryptos are officially legal there, the tax is progressive, and now Binance is entering it.

Although Japan has no top crypto exchange or no top crypto project, doesn't mean they are left behind in crypto exchange. I think there are many Japanese who are involved in crypto exchange, they don't need to have top crypto exchanges to prove they are not left behind. As far as I know, crypto is legal in Japan and Japan is one of the friendly countries for cryptocurrencies. Moreover, lately the Japanese government is planning to make more friendly regulations for developers, they expect to make developers be easier to list crypto exchanges. According to this issue, Japanese government is open-minded, it is not a sign of Japan lagging behind.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/japanese-regulators-loosen-crypto-laws-and-make-it-easier-to-list-coins

What's your definition of "anything great" that we are supposed to see in Japan? It's no doubt that they are one of the most crypto-friendly in the world and crypto can be used as a means of transaction there. Maybe we are not just updated on how crypto is going on in that country but it doesn't mean we can generally assume that they are falling behind the crypto industry. Instead, I believed it was growing more.

I want to suggest that you can bring this concern to the Japanese local section (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=252.0) here in this forum to somehow target the specific audiences that can give a much better response for you but it seems the community there isn't active.

Anyhow, for research purposes, maybe you can consider spending time doing self-study and key-in on your favorite search engine with the keyword "Crypto in Japan" or related terms to somehow see some news related to it. From there, decide if Japan is really falling behind the crypto industry.

This could be one of the factor why there’s no major adoption in Japan, because of their older generation. Though as we can see, they are very open to cryptocurrency, it’s just that they are not leading in terms of adoption but that is ok as long as they can use crypto legally, then better. Japan is very innovative and rich country, they will adopt slowly but surely and for sure, Japan will continue to prosper because they are able to manage their economy fairly.

It is possible because there is no issue arising in Japan with regards to cryptocurrency.  We all know that media are keen to report those bad event in crypto but failed to acknowledge a normal positive outlook of Japan towards cryptocurrency.  If there is no news about japan, it only means that their operation regarding cryptocurrency is smooth.  Besides the last I heard about Japan is the implementation of lighter regulation when it comes to cryptocurrency token listing[1]

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[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/20/business/financial-markets/loosening-crypto-rules/

You may not read or heard them since it's been a while I read some thread about them when talking about crypto. It seems that they were too discreet or likely to not going to bother unless if it's a scam but I've read some articles about them when dealing with crypto. They seemed to be strict in everything that's why maybe you haven't heard from them or their media doesn't want to involve their economy about the crypto market.

At least this time, Japan is starting to make good progress in the crypto world. I read about the regulations related to crypto in Japan, where, they started to loosen up legacy crypto. Maybe with this, they will be more open to accepting various progress and developments in the crypto world.
We can read this:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/japanese-regulators-loosen-crypto-laws-and-make-it-easier-to-list-coins

There are some, but not as well-known as others.
I read about this, exchange that is based in Japan:
Liquid.com (https://www.yoreoyster.com/out/liquid-com/)

And there is one more piece of good news from Binance regarding exchange in Japan, Binance has acquisition Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), and this will be going to be much better with this kind of crypto development.
Binance acquires regulated crypto exchange in Japan (https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/30/binance-enters-japan-with-acquisition-of-regulated-crypto-exchange-sakura/)

Japan is embracing and open to the crypto world. I agree with you. The Japanese government has legalized digital currency transactions. According to my Japanese classmates, both the elderly and children in Japan have shown enthusiasm for Bitcoin, so Japan is not far behind in this regard. It’s just that Japan is now more and more regulated on the encryption world.

Japan does have strict authority in the spread of crypto, they don't want their country to be further involved with bad things, especially if there are cases of scam or money laundering using crypto. But on the other hand, its neighboring country, South Korea, is the easiest for people who are not responsible in crypto matters to penetrate, often seeing the news that some Koreans have experienced big losses when they tried the crypto market or they also practice scams in all fields. which makes it the country with the least authority for crypto settlement issues.

I agree with this, Japan is extremely strict about spreading crypto and doesn't want to get involved with the bad reputation that crypto has created. We still don't know what's going on in Japan, just because they don't create crypto projects doesn't mean they're outdated, meanwhile they accept bitcoin and use bitcoin earlier than many countries. Along with that are countries like Korea that you mentioned although famous for many crypto projects but ended up becoming scam projects, dead projects. So it cannot be said that those countries are more developed than Japan in terms of cryptocurrencies.

I don't know much about Japan. 

As far as I remember, cryptocurrencies are allowed in Japan, but their circulation is subject to strict legislative regulation.  All Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges are licensed and periodically report to the regulatory authorities in Japan.  Japan is a country with very strong traditions.  Following traditions contributes to the development of production, but does not contribute to creativity. 

A rigid social society with its many rituals leads to the fact that people in it are incredibly industrious and achieve great success in production, but they do not generate enough truly original ideas. 

Perhaps it is because of this circumstance that we hear little about Japanese IT developers in the field of blockchain (Satoshi Nakamoto was probably not Japanese).

I am sure they do have cryptocurrency exchanges in their country. But we don't hear much about those exchange because of those few exchanges that is dominating the whole crypto market (which is never a good thing...). They are like most of the other countries in the world being quite about it and making their own laws and regulating it. If you notice, you will see that is the States and few other countries that are always loud about crypto currencies. As far as I have heard, the Japanese government is helping their users withdraw their funds from FTX. So I guess they do have strong laws related to crypto currencies that protect their users.

Agree. Most of time the Japanese government and companies are so cautious about their moves and extremely care about their reputation. Being too loud is never a good thing especially when it comes to some new/ innovative technology. Being not heard much is pretty good for their development and research. Stay focused and always strive for goals.


Thanks. You guys made a good point. Japan is probably doing just fine or better than what we appear to know. It is a fact that they are doing much better than some other countries in many fields.

Japan is a very strict country in everything, I have had friends who work in Japanese financial companies, and when I want to open branches in other places, there are many requirements and guarantees for large deposits because they are worried that they will be used as fraud, and I'm sure Japan will apply the rules The tight thing that makes the crypto project in Japan very difficult.

"Anything great" simply means any branded exchange like Binance or great blockchains like Ethereum. I get what you mean on this point that Japan is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. No doubt about that. I am not assuming that Japan is falling behind. My accurate expression was a question mark which is open to any correction if I am wrong or not updated.

I thought about this but as you said, there isn't that active so I'd better hear from more experts from here to get more insights.

Again, I have never concluded that Japan is actually falling behind in the crypto industry. Not even close. Please do not make a judgement "From there, decide if Japan is really falling behind the crypto industry".

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My logic behind "even in this World Cup, Japan has defeated Germany and Spain" is that even in some field that Japan is not proud of/good at, they are catching up pretty soon. Actually, football is just a sport that has been  thriving in Japan in the last two decades. Defeating some big opponents like Germany is just a way of saying that they are really good even in regards to something they are not good at. What is the point of comparison with Ghana vs South Korea ?  Did I say or imply that Japan is way more advanced in many fields than Germany ? Where does your anger come from ?



[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

Apparently - you are very jealous of Japan and do not understand its culture!
no, this is not a joke. To call Japan a vassal country is utter stupidity :) The Russians love to tell it very much after they lost the war in 1905 and were smitten! And especially when they understand that Japan has almost 0 resources, but this country is a technological world leader! Unlike Russia, a backward, degrading third world country, a resource appendage of developed countries. Now the country is also a terrorist :)
But back to Japan - tell me, what can "non-vassal" countries boast of against the background of Japan? Technologies? Lifespan? Ah, premiers quit often. You know - there is such a word honor and honesty. So they are very highly developed, and if they did not justify the hopes of their voters, did not fulfill their promises, they do not falsify the elections in order to sit on the throne for 20 years, they do not kill the opposition, which shows their shortcomings. They LEAVING, APOLOGIZING to the population of their country. Because they respect the people, the country...
I have great respect for Japan and its culture, more precisely, for how high the cost of honor and dignity they have, and how much they have the courage to admit their mistakes! It is very expensive and is simply not available to many!

PS About the Japanese army, which allegedly does not exist, I recommend reading ....

They are still using it as a means for a currency, just like it was planned to be used but not so much as investment. Japan is a very rich nation, compared to their population they have a very high purchasing power compared to other nations but also a high living expense.

So, imagine an American who makes 500k a year, but pays 400k a year on rent, he would be able to live with the rest, buy a car, buy tv and playstation etc easily, but not left much due to high prices in other things. This is why they do not really invest into bitcoin, but they do use it for paying stuff and that is what the original idea for bitcoin was, and it is actually a great thing to do for the bitcoin world.

Japan is often an outlier when it comes to trialling things that the rest of the world has used for a long time or something even holding on to certain tech for too long (fax machines). However it's sometimes not a bad thing to have this insular and quirky behavior, because it can shield you if others having jumped on a leaky ship - metaphorically speaking. They also live in a very segregated society and have a very structured business mentality which plays a role.

Japan is known to be the most crypto-friendly Asian country and they have also been using bitcoin for a long time, it can be said that they are the pioneers in the legalization of bitcoin. They're not too loud about creating altcoin projects, but that doesn't mean they don't care about the crypto industry. Maybe they went in a different direction from what we are seeing in the market.

Sakura is a Japanese exchange that was acquired by Binance for them to enter the Japanese market.
https://www.binance.com/en/blog/ecosystem/binance-acquires-jfsa-registered-sakura-exchange-bitcoin-committed-to-enter-japan-under-regulatory-compliance-1479109563632749072

I also saw that news, it can be said that they have strict regulations on the industry so it is not surprising that they are not too noisy in the market with altcoin junk projects.
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/12/02/ftx-japan-plans-to-restart-local-customer-withdrawals/

Japanese people have a unique culture because they are very fanatical about their country, the Japanese government implements strict rules and advice to always be vigilant with cryptocurrencies, it's only natural that until now we haven't heard of top exchanges based from Japan, different from other countries that provide convenience such as Singapore, South Korea and others.

Recently, FTX Japan also announced a plan to open the withdrawal function for Japanese investors, it can be seen that they are having very strict regulations for the crypto industry. No country has been able to do this since FTX declared bankruptcy.
Now, I understand why they are not as popular in the market as other countries. Altcoins projects are mostly scams, and disappear after a while and I think Japanese developers don't want to go to jail because of the strict regulations in their country.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftx-japan-plans-restart-local-121210903.html

You are wrong mate. Japan as one of the leading countries when it comes to innovation and technology is also huge in the crypto industry. I am not very updated on them these days but there was a time when it is one of the largest volumes in crypto trading. Zaif a Japanese exchange was one of the biggest before. Japanese banks are one of the early testers of the blockchain. And Binance before transferring to Europe was based in Japan too. Just lately, Binance purchased a Japanese crypto exchange in order to bolster its market share in the Japanese crypto market.

Well, Japan went through a phase where they tightened regulatory requirements towards Crypto currencies and exchanges, after the whole Mt Gox fiasco in 2014.  ::)  They will most probably intensify their regulations in the near future... to prevent another Mt Gox scandal.

The latest FTX bankruptcy are not helping ==> https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-japan-drafts-plan-to-return-client-funds

On the other hand... the Japanese central bank plans to make a decision on whether to issue a digital currency by 2026. (https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-japan-to-trial-digital-yen-with-three-megabanks)

when they suspend withdrawals of assets, the more loss for the investors since the tokens they have are devalued. lucky for the ones actively dumping when Caroline tweeted their buying price at $22. everybody sells at $22 when they found out.


https://youtu.be/wEIGG-pN7ug?t=25
you gotta respect the Japanese, they know the way of the Samurai.  ;D

I think they don't need to buy cryptocurrency or support cryptocurrency just because Satoshi Nakamoto is a Japanese name. We all have our own choices in life, on where to invest or risk our money. But I believe Japanese government are not that strict when it comes to cryptocurrency, if I'm not mistaken, you could use cryptocurrency to buy products in their country, correct me if I'm wrong though.

I would guess that they do not support it just because of Satoshi name, but because of the tech behind it. I know we do not like to bring racial stereotypes into discussion, but this is a good one I believe; Japanese people are amazing at new technology.

It means that the type of people who can build robots, could also be interested in crypto because it's a brand new version of something they already knew. Money but improved version basically and they are tech oriented nation so they liked it. That is the main starting point but we haven't really improved all that much since the first time it was created, so no new development may have caused them to lose interest.

Japan is still ahead of the curve, so not sure why or how they fell behind in the crypto industry.  Was the expectation for them to take the lead on crypto regulations?

Maybe due to strict regulation and Japanese people just don't want to make such projects, they prefer to introduce bitcoin to beginners and focus on using bitcoin for useful purposes. Indeed, the incidents of scams from South Korea, I often see them in drama series, have even become a public concern and clearly send the message that crypto is very close to a scam. But it needs to be underlined that this kind of thing will not happen if everyone is careful every time they get information.

Japan obviously know the tech. They obviously know what there is to know about crypto, they just chose not to focus on it becase there are other areas that they focused on before entering crypto. They have exchanges and are putting a considerable amount of volume in the market, so I don't think they are lagging behind in any way.

Apart from Japan recent success in the World Cup going on In Qatar one other thing I like about the country is their citizens discipline. I think it’s exemplary. I have no doubt that Japan is going to be amongst the leading nation economically.

It’s a country bless with population and good numbers youth, I think they have a strong Crypto-Currency relationship but I don’t have facts to prove this. Going my the country love for technology and development I believe there should be good amount of strong crypto-currency enthusiast

There does not seem to be any indication that the Japanese market is important enough to interest those interested in the crypto market. The Japanese market is a closed market and the state monitors it in a way. Recently, Binance acquired a trading platform that is active in Japan, and thus secured its first foothold in East Asian countries, which increases Japan's isolation, as no other company can think of it or the possibility of great opportunities in it.

Just because they are not involved in the creation of scam projects does not mean that they are outdated and do not study cryptocurrencies. I remember them being the earliest bitcoin-accepting country in Asia and having strict crypto regulations. That's why we don't see too many projects from Japan, they only focus on bitcoin and blockchain, they don't want to create scam projects like Luna or FTX.

Japan is a developed country whose economic sector is developing very rapidly so that the Japanese government itself always takes very good care of it so that the Japanese economy can always be stable and develop well. So it's natural that in Japan very few new crypto projects are born and new crypto exchanges are developing, because if the government sees that as a less important thing, then it won't develop in Japan for obvious reasons.

They are the country with the world's leading technology development, they will not ignore blockchain technology as well as the cryptocurrency industry. But they have always been known as a country with stringent laws, so developers who do not arbitrarily create projects cannot guarantee success.
Recently, FTX Japan is also planning to refund investors, showing that they have stringent regulations, if you intend to scam or appropriate property by creating a project, you should not be in Japan.

The circumstances are what they are, it is likely that after the collapse of Mt Gox, which was based in Japan, regulators decided to take a deeper look at this market and investors panicked to the point they decided to leave Japan and create exchanges in other jurisdictions.

Also the price of electricity is high compared to a country like China, which is why miners decided to establish their operations there until it became illegal, so as you can see Japan despite being a developed country does not have the best characteristics to be a leader in this market.

The crypto industry is still in its infancy, in my opinion, Japan will not be completely left behind as it has all the necessary conditions to be an early adopter of blockchain technology in the future.

I think of this crypto market as a giant board game. Countries around the world are each responsible for writing the rules or laws governing those who try to play such games.

Perhaps, Japan's strict crypto regulations might hinder the growth of the crypto industry there. If so, it is hoped that the Japanese government will loosen its stance on the matter, allowing for a more open environment in which innovation and economic growth can flourish. Any resulting growth in popularity and adoption will no doubt benefit all parties involved.

Appreciate Mr. DrBeer's comment. I am always happy to see knowledgeable people, especially in terms of world's history, to make reasonable points. Japan is truly a leading country not only in high tech sectors but also in countless fields in the world. Its rich and complicated history with neighboring and western countries has been propelling the nation to progess continuously. Japanese culture has reasons to earn so much respect from the globe and many people who are not familiar with history will just ignore this. Humans are the fundamental reasons to create civilization/achievements/sucesses and culture behind the facade is the key to humans. We have to admit this before we actually analyze a country, a phenomenon or even a small article. Too sad that many people see things like scattered dots and can't find the hidden clues that lead to the right direction.


Sometimes I can't find an appropriate word to describle Japan but I simply know what it ts. Being and outlier and a pioneer ? Holding on to old stuff while keeping innovative on technology ? Preserving its own culture at the same time learning advanced foreign cultures well ? Yes. Japn is everything of them. The Japanese culture has been a perfect balance of old and new, their's and others', open and conservative...the list goes on and on. I guess this is the primary reason why that country has maintained so strong to today. No wonder their segregated society and structured business mentality still work no matter how competitive the world becomes or will be.

Japan is a unique country in the world because they are very fanatical about their country, they will not be interested in projects that use languages other than Japanese so most of the top exchanges in Japan are pure Japanese, of course there are several exchanges that are popular in Japan even I heard that Binance also opened business in Japan.

compared to countries in East Asia, Japan is quite receptive and accepting of cryptocurrencies and the benefits they could provide. So I don't think they are lagging compared to the rest of the world. It's the fact that they are more relevant in other aspects, like how great they are with creating manga, videogames, technological solutions, and whatnot that news and updates about Japan's journey to the cryptocurrency world is overshadowed. Quite unlikely, they are a collectivist society, and although they have this certain phobia about learning new languages it is no excuse to be less accepting of enterprises that involve cryptocurrencies. The fact of the matter is, they are indeed accepting of cryptocurrency, so much so that for a time they have their own cryptocurrency exchange until CZ's Binance annexed it.

Japan is a developed technology country including cryptocurrencies, even before cryptocurrencies became trending today a few years ago Japan was the largest Bitcoin holder country, then China and so on, after cryptocurrencies increasingly diverse and more and more top exchanges, Japan seemed left behind with other countries, in my opinion The usual but I'm sure Japan has its own way with cryptocurrencies.

I have heard the news that Japan has made Cryptocurrencies regulations in 2015, of course it is natural that the government helps investors at FTX so that Japanese citizens are very helped, this is because Japanese citizens always provide financial transaction reports so that Japanese authority is easy to help.

Don't you think the Satoshi name might be a tactical strategy that intends to attract potential followers and buyers ? I mean, to most Japanese people, it does not really ring the bell to hear a Japanese name, even he is inventing some big tech. But for most people around the world, Japan already stands for high technology and most users/consumers will buy it. An original Japanese name means much more important advertising to promote Bitcoin. The existence and success of Bitcoin is never a coincidence.

Not really, if they were fanatics of their country and didn't care about anything but Japanese, they wouldn't have chosen bitcoin and legalized it very early on, bitcoin was not created in their country. As others have mentioned: Japan has stringent regulations, so Japanese developers don't want to create shitcoins and crash and go to jail. So it is understandable that they are not so dominant in the altcoin market, but with bitcoin, Japan was one of the first countries to legalize it in Asia.

Satoshi Nakamoto? Hello? The person himself/herself could be someone from any part of the world, but the name itself is Japanese and there is probably a good reason as to why that person chose this name if you ask me.

Also, as some others mentioned, they were one of the first countries in the world to legalize BTC. They were always crypto friendly which implies that they were ahead in the cryptocurrency industry overall.

You are clearly exaggerating some stuff about Japan here by conveniently ignoring cons related to it like bad work-life balance, Yakuza etc. Think!

In my opinion, Cryptocurrencies user information in Japan is very difficult to obtain, I hear several local exchanges in Japan to close services for many reasons such as strict government regulations and minimal users, we know that Japan is a developed country but for finance many Japanese people prefer to save money under the pillow.

Exaggerating stuff about Japan ? Hell no.  I was thinking about talking the cons related to it like work-life balance and Yakuza but held back. Now you mention these and let's talk about them. My cousin has lived in Japan for seven years and now she is a professional worker. We have been frequently in touch and talked about Japanese culture a lot. Ever since she was a student studying in Japan, she'd choose to do part-time jobs in her spare time . At that time, schedule was quite flexible as students had to focus on study. After graduation and being a full-timer, she has been indeed devoted much more time to work and guess what, she was very happy with where she is now. Maybe she is still single and from a foreigner's view, it is extremely acceptable to to accepted in anohter country and live well. Her Japanese colleagues, of whom are married with kids, are pretty much busy everyday but so what ? It's more like a choice of work-life balance, not a forced task to do ! You use the word "bad", and may i know how you exactly define "bad" here ?  Speaking of Yakuza, I am not a gangster first of all and don't have any first-hand experience but coincidentally, I recently watched a Japanese Yakuza film Outrage directed and starring Takeshi Kitano, and also two sequels later Beyond Outrage and Outrage Coda. I have to say that these movies are expressing that Yakuza is collapsing culturally , rotalty is deminising while betrayal is taking over and deteriorating the whole Yakuza society. Even they, the Japanese people, are realizing their problems and dealing with them, why would I step up to exaggerate any stuff ?  Am I bragging about Japanese culture ? Of course not. I am much more objective than many people and don't like their shortcomings either.  Cons in regards to work-life balance and Yakuza ? I hear them and see them fairly, never intend to ignore anything bad. Think twice !

It is only natural that Japan is taken into account by businessmen like Binance, because Binance itself knows that Japan is a very smart country and very competent in the economic and business fields. Besides that, Japan also really respects their own rules and culture in any case so that things that are against the rules of their country will always be scrutinized and even ignored if there are no more satisfying benefits.

:D, Have you ever been there and conducted a survey on some Japanese residents for "saving money under the pillow"?
This sounds very funny to me because they (Japanese residents) don't live in a poor country and even you yourself call Japan a developed country with very strict government regulations. So it's a little unreasonable if Japanese residents keep money under their pillows without thinking about saving money elsewhere such as banks or the like in their own country.

I think when it comes to tech related stuff Japan is never left behind and I don't think crypto isn't in their sight either , besides I remember some years back reading something that side crypto in Japan is a safe haven so I don't think these guys fall behind. And just a fun fact, isnt Mr Bitcoin aka Satoshi Nakomoto believed to have come from Japan based on his name combination  ::)

as far as I know Japan is a country whose citizens are very nationalist, they really love their country, and maybe this is the reason why not too many Japanese people use crypto, because they think it's unnecessary because they still have a digital payment system and investment in their country also quite profitable.. but maybe in the future more people will adopt crypto in japan

actually there were quite a lot of crypto users in Japan before. However, after the Japanese government imposed high enough crypto tax rates, the volume of crypto trading there decreased. so that the exchange there is experiencing difficulties to continue to survive and operate. but I had time to read the news on Google that there are still around 31 exchanges that are still operating in Japan. But there is also an exchange called EXIA which is still suspended by the Japanese Financial Services Agency.

I think quite the other way around because Japan are very welcome towards cryptos even if they had some issues with them some 3 years ago if I remember well but since then , Japan and Asia countries in general have been more welcome towards cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin. After all , we are talking about Japan , so I doubt they will fall behind with anything that has to be technology.

There are current headlines on Japan but this time it do talk about this
Japan to lift the ban on foreign stablecoins like USDT in 2023:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-to-lift-the-ban-on-foreign-stablecoins-like-usdt-in-2023-report

but sadly here's another one.

Kraken quits Japan for the second time, blaming a ‘weak crypto market’
https://cointelegraph.com/news/kraken-quits-japan-for-second-time-blaming-a-weak-crypto-market

You could definitely be able to tell that there's a weak market on Japan and its just normal
that platforms or business in correlated with crypto cant really be able to sustain out.

To be honest, I don't really trust the media nowadays. Spreading news without confirming the authenticity is what makes modern media lose trust in public. I don't believe Japan has fallen behind. Truth is likely to be they are just too strict and conservative about cryptocurrencies. Focusing on technology while ignoring most meaningless crypto projects seems like a better choice.

I searched for the source, couldn't figure it out. Japan is one among the country that helped in the mass adoption in the beginning days of bitcoin getting used on daily needs. If I'm not wrong this was during the year 2017-2018, the market bounced good and parallel to the same Japan supported small businesses with proper education and suggested to add cryptocurrency payment option. During those days, even this is mentioned to be a strong reason for the bullish movement of the market. Maybe now the country might've made strict regulations.

Japan and Russia were among the top countries until 2017 or so, as far as cryptocurrency adoption is concerned. But then, lack of support from the government and increasing regulations forced many of the startups to shift their operations to other countries. BTC-e for example had to move their operations to Bulgaria from Moscow before they were closed down completely by the FBI. And then the bear run of 2018 had a heavy impact on Japanese and Russian crypto investors compared to those in other countries. And finally, the slow pace of MtGox recovery in Japan has frustrated a lot of the investors who lost their money in 2013.

Yes, with the acquisition of Japan’s Sakura exchange, Binance looks to offer blockchain solutions along with crypto exchange services in Japan. Thus, making Japan more crypto based country that will only set to happen if the Japanese government and Bank of Japan will align with Binance programs. But I believed crypto has been already exposed in Japan, as this is a crypto friendly country, but it’s only at the present that blockchain technology will come to conquer Japan.

The tax policy there is very high in every trading transaction on the stock exchange. So of course if I'm in the position of a Japanese citizen. then I will choose not to do too much crypto trading. I will only buy and hold it until the target is met.

and keep in mind that Japanese people are very busy in work matters. their work ethic is very high. so they don't have much time to relax just to monitor charts and make quick trades. they definitely prefer long-term trading or investing. so it's natural that the exchange there is quiet. But the number of exchanges operating in Japan was very much. But it is because of low volume. so it's only natural that there are exchanges that leave Japan. like for example Kraken.(beincrypto.com (https://id.beincrypto.com/crypto-exchange-kraken-angkat-kaki-dari-market-jepang/))