[2018-06-28]Japan's Next Economic Boom Will Be Bitcoin And Blockchain Fuelled

[vit05]

forbes

Japan's economy — which for years has struggled to return to its 1980's growth levels — could be about to boom once again, thanks to bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

At the Japan Blockchain Conference this week in Tokyo (the first of what's expected to become a yearly event) the chief executive of financial services giant SBI Holdings Yoshitaka Kitao said he is betting that blockchain related technologies will fuel the next boom for the Japanese economy after decades of economic malaise.

In the 1970s, Japan had the world's second-largest GDP after the U.S. and this boom continued through to the 1980s. However, by the early 1990s Japan's economy had stalled, plunging the country into what has been called the "lost decade" of growth.

It has previously been suggested Japan's economy could be kick-started by a "technological boom."


Improved mobile connectivity through the long-awaited 5G technology, along with the Internet of Things (IoT), rapid increases in computing power and artificial intelligence, could combine to trigger an economic boom, in which Japan is well placed to lead the way.

SBI is investing in companies in Japan and across east Asia through its $460 million so-called AI & Blockchain Fund, established earlier this year.

"We want to take blockchain beyond financial," Yoshitaka Kitao said. "There's a lot of speculative demand around cryptocurrencies, which is why the price is going up so quickly, but people need to think about how these technologies are being used in real life and how they can improve people's businesses."

Yoshitaka expects this boom to happen within the next few years and has been steering SBI towards blockchain and cryptocurrencies as a result.

Earlier this year it was revealed SBI is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange this summer and has also invested in a renewable energy wind farm to begin mining Bitcoin Cash — which Yoshitaka believes is more viable than the original bitcoin.

"Bitcoin is too expensive and people are just holding it and hoping it increase in value," said Yoshitaka.

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[1Referee]

Earlier this year it was revealed SBI is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange this summer and has also invested in a renewable energy wind farm to begin mining Bitcoin Cash — which Yoshitaka believes is more viable than the original bitcoin.

"Bitcoin is too expensive and people are just holding it and hoping it increase in value," said Yoshitaka.

The shilling is real.

People are holding Bitcoin because that's the only coin they have confidence in. People trade altcoins because they want to end up with more Bitcoin. It all comes down to Bitcoin again.

BCash has nothing. It has only shills trading it and artificially keeping its price up. The market cap it currently rocks was donated to them, the fools they are. What are miners supposed to dump the coins they mine on, on the shills that are financially supported by Roger and Jihan?

If I want to use a certain crypto as a more viable day to day currency, then I go for Litecoin, and definitely not trashy BCash.

[Carlton Banks]

The shilling is real.

People are holding Bitcoin because that's the only coin they have confidence in. People trade altcoins because they want to end up with more Bitcoin. It all comes down to Bitcoin again.

BCash has nothing. It has only shills trading it and artificially keeping its price up. The market cap it currently rocks was donated to them, the fools they are. What are miners supposed to dump the coins they mine on, on the shills that are financially supported by Roger and Jihan?

If I want to use a certain crypto as a more viable day to day currency, then I go for Litecoin, and definitely not trashy BCash.

As a phenomenon, it was always bound to happen.

Think about it from Bitmain's (or any big miner manufacturer's) perspective: you're a money printing business in essence. You mine BTC in all the most profitable ways possible; mining with customer equipment for 2 weeks before shipping, charging hundreds of percent markup prices for mining units, adding proprietary boosting tech not activated on customer equipment etc. But you still find yourself stuck with thousands upon thousands of last generation miners that are now unprofitable despite all the advantages you ensured yourself.

So, you create an altcoin with the same hashing algorithm, and as compelling a marketing story as you can fashion. If you can get enough market momentum, your old unproductive ASICs can eek out just that little bit more profit before they croak. Maintain that narrative as long as possible, and you've added extra profitability from what would have otherwise been wasted capital.

[richardsNY]

If I want to use a certain crypto as a more viable day to day currency, then I go for Litecoin, and definitely not trashy BCash.

I must say that I am quite surprised (impressed) to see Litecoin process a relatively fair number of transactions. Instead of Roger constantly looking at Bitcoin, he should start worrying about Litecoin to become a more relevant ecommerce currency than Bcash. It has the solidity, 2.5 minute blocks, decent and willing developers not relying on hate and misleading newbies, and the respect of most users. If BitPay incorporates Litecoin, it's going to seriously challenge Bcash. I however don't know if he with his stake in BitPay can do something to prevent that from happening. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Litecoin function as base for small transactions.

[Carlton Banks]

I'd never checked that, but it's true, Litecoin does process more transactions than Bitcoin Cash does.

[figmentofmyass]

If BitPay incorporates Litecoin, it's going to seriously challenge Bcash. I however don't know if he with his stake in BitPay can do something to prevent that from happening. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Litecoin function as base for small transactions.

somehow i doubt it'll happen, given how bitpay promotes bcash.

their whole "network fee" (extra fee added = next-block fee, marked-up using their horrible copay algo, no segwit) for BTC is bad enough. but it gets worse. the way they show the payment options (BTC and bcash) side by side, with an absurd "network fee" for BTC and a perpetual $0.00 "network fee" for bcash is an obvious throwback to the big blocker narrative. they tried to charge me almost 0.0002 BTC above the invoice amount last time.

didn't know roger had a stake in bitpay.....i guess that explains some shit.

[cryptofonia]

forbes

Japan's economy — which for years has struggled to return to its 1980's growth levels — could be about to boom once again, thanks to bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

At the Japan Blockchain Conference this week in Tokyo (the first of what's expected to become a yearly event) the chief executive of financial services giant SBI Holdings Yoshitaka Kitao said he is betting that blockchain related technologies will fuel the next boom for the Japanese economy after decades of economic malaise.

In the 1970s, Japan had the world's second-largest GDP after the U.S. and this boom continued through to the 1980s. However, by the early 1990s Japan's economy had stalled, plunging the country into what has been called the "lost decade" of growth.

It has previously been suggested Japan's economy could be kick-started by a "technological boom."


Improved mobile connectivity through the long-awaited 5G technology, along with the Internet of Things (IoT), rapid increases in computing power and artificial intelligence, could combine to trigger an economic boom, in which Japan is well placed to lead the way.

SBI is investing in companies in Japan and across east Asia through its $460 million so-called AI & Blockchain Fund, established earlier this year.

"We want to take blockchain beyond financial," Yoshitaka Kitao said. "There's a lot of speculative demand around cryptocurrencies, which is why the price is going up so quickly, but people need to think about how these technologies are being used in real life and how they can improve people's businesses."

Yoshitaka expects this boom to happen within the next few years and has been steering SBI towards blockchain and cryptocurrencies as a result.

Earlier this year it was revealed SBI is planning to launch a cryptocurrency exchange this summer and has also invested in a renewable energy wind farm to begin mining Bitcoin Cash — which Yoshitaka believes is more viable than the original bitcoin.

"Bitcoin is too expensive and people are just holding it and hoping it increase in value," said Yoshitaka.

I think more promising is South Korean market, especially when it will be enlarged by the North Korea's possible market opportunities.

[richardsNY]

their whole "network fee" (extra fee added = next-block fee, marked-up using their horrible copay algo, no segwit) for BTC is bad enough. but it gets worse. the way they show the payment options (BTC and bcash) side by side, with an absurd "network fee" for BTC and a perpetual $0.00 "network fee" for bcash is an obvious throwback to the big blocker narrative. they tried to charge me almost 0.0002 BTC above the invoice amount last time.

That's disgusting, I agree. I used BitPay yesterday twice, and got charged extra like 1500 satoshis the first time, and 1000 satoshis the second time. Imagine when miners start spamming again and BitPay charges like $10 in fees for $5 purchases. I honestly find it too disturbing and would even prefer to use PayPal instead of using BitPay as payment processor. I don't want to keep using something working against Bitcoin. They definitely are trying to kill their business this way. The political poison is the worst part of this industry....

[Carlton Banks]

If BitPay incorporates Litecoin, it's going to seriously challenge Bcash. I however don't know if he with his stake in BitPay can do something to prevent that from happening. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Litecoin function as base for small transactions.

somehow i doubt it'll happen, given how bitpay promotes bcash.

their whole "network fee" (extra fee added = next-block fee, marked-up using their horrible copay algo, no segwit) for BTC is bad enough. but it gets worse. the way they show the payment options (BTC and bcash) side by side, with an absurd "network fee" for BTC and a perpetual $0.00 "network fee" for bcash is an obvious throwback to the big blocker narrative. they tried to charge me almost 0.0002 BTC above the invoice amount last time.

didn't know roger had a stake in bitpay.....i guess that explains some shit.

Bitpay already lost both merchants and users after they stopped providing addresses directly. As soon as competitors start to accept Lightning too, Bitpay will have to respect the market or die completely.

[BitHodler]

As soon as competitors start to accept Lightning too, Bitpay will have to respect the market or die completely.

I can't wait for that to happen, but can't BitPay at that point technically still manipulate their UI in a similar way as they do now? If I request a lightning payment (invoice), it responds with a similar screen.

I can either scan the QR or copy the URI, but that's an option. They can choose to show me as much as they want me to see, or as little as they want me to see. They will likely still hold some power at that point.

Good thing, or not, depends on how you look at the situation, is the fact that BitPay has lost a tremendous amount of traffic. For an exchange that's understandable after a hype, but for BitPay? It's damaging.

[1Referee]

As a phenomenon, it was always bound to happen.

Think about it from Bitmain's (or any big miner manufacturer's) perspective: you're a money printing business in essence. You mine BTC in all the most profitable ways possible; mining with customer equipment for 2 weeks before shipping, charging hundreds of percent markup prices for mining units, adding proprietary boosting tech not activated on customer equipment etc. But you still find yourself stuck with thousands upon thousands of last generation miners that are now unprofitable despite all the advantages you ensured yourself.

So, you create an altcoin with the same hashing algorithm, and as compelling a marketing story as you can fashion. If you can get enough market momentum, your old unproductive ASICs can eek out just that little bit more profit before they croak. Maintain that narrative as long as possible, and you've added extra profitability from what would have otherwise been wasted capital.

Great point.

That raises another question; couldn't BCash also directly be initiated to prevent a worse case scenario where Bitcoin would fork off (yes, I know it will badly hurt Bitcoin) and deem all Bitmains equipment worthless? It's like a worst case scenario insurance for Bitmain. Without BCash, there wouldn't be anything to fall back on and people and professionals owning Bitmain gear would end up having hardware with little to no resale value because there is no real use for them.

It definitely puts things into a different perspective with this in mind.