Popular Japanese E-Commerce Platform To Soon Accept BTC

The Japanese e-commerce and internet company that is Rakuten is based in Tokyo, Japan and is one of the biggest platforms of its kind in the nation. In a new updated pushed by the platform, they look to be offering Bitcoin and cryptocurrency implementation sometime in the near future. Rakuten announced a massive update for its mobile app platform Rakuten Pay which is set to release later next month with the potential inclusion of cryptocurrency payments in conjunction with fiat.

In the new updated version of the app, it will apparently include “all payment solutions embedded into one platform,” leaving many to wonder if this is an indirect course of announcing support for Bitcoin and some other big market cryptocurrencies. The e-commerce platform is commonly referred to as the ‘Japanese Amazon’ while the actual Amazon doesn’t seem to have done anything on the crypto front for the popular online store.

Last month, Rakuten was reported to have shifted its corporate structure to make the companies cryptocurrency exchange Everybody’s Bitcoin into a new payments subsidiary. The exchange was bought out for $2.4 million in August 2018 and was claimed to be the first step for crypto payments on the e-commerce platform. Rakuten’s restructure is further proof that the giant is looking into cryptocurrency as a possible asset for payment in the future.

On top of this, the report contains information about updates to the firm’s prepaid card service Rakuten Edy, which includes integration for QR codes. This is just another hint that the implementation of cryptocurrency is just around the corner for the platform. In addition, the report also indicates that we should be bullish for crypto payments in regards to the impact of Rakuten in the event of accepting Bitcoin for payment. As it says in the report, the Japanese e-commerce site’s income “rose by 28.4 percent in 2018, to a total of $1.3 billion.”

Even though the prices of Bitcoin and altcoins are seemingly trading sideways following a trail of losses last month, the year has kicked off to a relatively good start. With the United States Securities and Exchange Commission looking to accept the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF at some point this year, Bitcoin enthusiasts are just waiting on ‘when’ the ETF will be accepted rather than ‘if’ the ETF will be accepted.