Mercari, Japan’s answer to eBay, is planning to allow its users to buy products using bitcoin starting in June. The bitcoin payments would be facilitated through Mercari’s virtual currency trading service, Mercoin. In fact, the bitcoin option will be exclusively available to Mercoin users, emphasizing Japan’s growing reputation as a crypto-friendly environment. This is an important next step for Mercoin, which launched in March 2023.

At that time, its purpose was to allow users to buy and sell bitcoin through the Mercari marketplace app. “Users can purchase bitcoin for as little as 1 yen, using money added to their balance from bank accounts or their sales proceeds and points earned from selling items on Mercari,” the company said at the time. “Enabling this kind of small investment provides a low-stress way for users to get started. In this way, Mercoin offers an easy and secure experience—even for users who have little to no experience with bitcoin.”  The trading service has already amassed over a million users in less than a year’s time.

Mercari has more than 22 million monthly active users. The customer-to-customer platform itself has been around for only a decade, having launched in February 2013. The app arrived in the United States in 2016. Japan Embraces Crypto In addition to bolstering Mercari’s presence on the crypto landscape, the move also points to the support that Japan has shown for digital assets.

Japan’s government has recognized bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as legitimate forms of money since 2016. The country’s Payment Services Act officially regards crypto assets as acceptable payment methods. Unlike in the U.S., the crypto industry is regulated by Japan’s Financial Services Agency.  In the hopes of attracting digital-asset businesses and platforms, Japan’s government has even loosened its cryptocurrency tax laws.

That helped lure international crypto firms like Binance into the Japanese market. Rakuten, another Japanese e-commerce platform that competes with Mercari, has begun allowing its users to convert their loyalty points into crypto. The next question is whether this type of competition will lead to more American companies accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. “The new FASB accounting rule for 2024 allows companies to hold bitcoin under fair value treatment,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research “That may entice more companies to accept bitcoin as payment moving forward, since they’ll be more willing to hold it on their balance sheet.” 

By Tom Nawrocki
Jan 08, 2024 00:00
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