Does Japan fall behind in the crypto industry ?

[Mahanton]

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.

They arent that left behind nor ignore this industry.

Binance Enters Japan With Acquisition of Regulated Crypto Exchange Sakura
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.

[TheGreatPython]

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.

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.

[kryptqnick]

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.

[kawetsriyanto]

However, in the crypto industry, we barely heard anything great from Japan, no leading blockchain ecosystem or any cryptocurrency exchange alike.

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

[harizen]

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.

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 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.

[goaldigger]

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.

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.

[BitcoinPanther]

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.

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]



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

[Oceat]

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.

[Rengga Jati]

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

...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.

There are some, but not as well-known as others.
I read about this, exchange that is based in Japan:
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

[silbertlee]

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.

  - 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

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.

[rendravolt]

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.

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.

[laurenB7742]

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.

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.

[Smartprofit]

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.

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..

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).

[adzino]

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.

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.

[Marcellin9]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[Kadal Ijo]

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.

[Marcellin9]

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.

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 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.

"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".

Even in this World Cup, Japan has defeated Germany and Spain, striving to the next level of competition.

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

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.

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!?

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]

[DrBeer]

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.

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 ....

[justdimin]

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.

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.

[Fortify]

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.

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.