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I’m Obi( @obnty ), the founder of NodeTokyo, the first tech-focused international blockchain conference in Japan and the dev/student blockchain community CryptoAge.
You can check out the past issue #1 from here.
#2 from here
#3 from here
On to this week’s update covering the happenings mainly from April 16-22, 2019.
⛓ Startups
Kyoto-based startup LCNEM announced a new payment system using a stablecoin on the lightning network. - Link
💼Enterprises
Digital Garage’s subsidiary “Crypto Garage” announced they have developed and executed the first P2P derivative contract on Bitcoin blockchain with Blockstream - Link
MUFG invests in Chainalysis for their $6M series B round - Link
MUFG is the largest bank in Japan with the plan to launch JPY-pegged stablecoin as I previously covered. This investment follows a $30M round from Accel and Benchmark in this February.
MUFG and Akamai Technologies set up a joint venture “Global Open Network Japan” to start an open payment network in Japan in 2020 - Link
Listed online brokerage firm, Monex Securities considers to add cryptocurrencies to its retail services - Link
Monex acquired Coincheck last year after their hack, which just won the crypto exchange license from the FSA.
💱Exchanges
SBI Virtual Currencies announced to delist BCH - Link
Company said it’s not related to the recent action from Binance to delist BCHSV.
Rakuten Wallet started accepting new user registration - Link
Existing Rakuten Bank users can have an easier registration process.
📖Regulation
Government’s Consumer Affairs Agency updated the notice for cryptocurrency frauds - Link(JP)
They noticed a few new types of fraud reports regarding cryptocurrencies.
👋Meetups / Events
MyCryptoHeroes(dApps game) Hackathon was held on April 20-21st. - Link
Decrypt Tokyo Hackathon will be held on June 8-9th - Link
Co-organized by Quantstamp, NodeTokyo, Neutrino, HashHub, and supported by OmiseGO, Microsoft and several other leading Japanese enterprises in blockchain.
📝Sidenotes
New survey conducted by Gartner Japan in this February shows how IT managers in big enterprises with 500+ employees think of blockchain technology - Link(JP)
16.7% (n=515) answered they understand blockchain technology
64.9% said blockchain will have a disruptive impact
- 17.9% think blockchain will bring a huge impact as what internet technology did
- 22.3%: Blockchain will disrupt some industries like Uber or Airbnb did, and that impact will gradually expand
- 24.7%: Blockchain will disrupt some industries like Uber or Airbnb did, but that will be a partly impact
- 12.8%: Blockchain will have an impact on society and businesses but it will be the same as other technologies
- 4.3%: Blockchain is a hype and won’t have much impact
- 3.3%: Blockchain is a hype and will disappear
That’s all for now. See you next week! - Obi