JAPAN plans to become the world's Bitcoin capital, as the Asian countries still offer cryptocurrency investments despite several high-profile hacking attacks.
Last month, Japanese Crypto Exchange announced that Coincheck had to pay back more than $240 million to customers after their system was hacked and affected 260,000 customers.
The attack, described as the biggest digital theft in history, was the most high profile in several hackers to affect Japanese crypto courtesy companies.
However, unlike their neighbors China and South Korea, which spans on the use of online money, the risks do not deter Japan from their mission to be the first country to widely use crypto curves as legal means of payment.
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Takashi Shiono, an economist at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, said: “There are estimates that tax revenue from the cryptocurrency business, including capital gains taxes from individual investors and from corporations, could amount to 1 trillion yen (US$9.2 billion), though that is very speculative at this stage.”
The Japanese economy has suffered from decades of stagnation since the start of the 1990s, dealt with a massive national debt and with the problems of a shrinking population and tax base.
The Tokyo Government is hoping the capitalise on the growth in interest for cryptocurrencies as their opportunity to improve the Japanese economy.
Ken Kawai, partner at law firm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and adviser to finance-tech start-ups, said: “Regulators in Japan are usually conservative and not first movers.
“The Government wants to facilitate fintech through cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.”
Cryptocurrencies are particularly popular among young Japanese investors lured by the prospect of strong profits in an economy that has seen ultra-low interest rates for many years and low returns from traditional assets.
The hope from Japan is that the crack downs on the use of online money from other countries around the world will attract more investors to Tokyo.
It’s estimated that cryptocurrencies may contribute 0.3 per cent to Japan’s gross domestic product, 20 per cent of total growth expected in 2018.
Read more: express.co.uk
