Japan delivered a one-two punch to HODLers of bitcoin on Friday, knocking BTC prices down 8 percent and similarly pummeling most of the cryptocurrency complex. First came news that regulators served six of Japan’s largest crypto exchanges with “business improvement orders”. Financial Services Agency (FSA) has been displeased with how these exchanges are implementing anti-money laundering procedures. QUOINE, bitFlyer, Bit Bank, BTC Box, Bit Point, and Tech Bureau were all told publicly to fix their internal controls. bitFlyer, the world’s sixth-largest bitcoin exchange according to CoinMarketCap, responded by announcing, “To ensure this process is completed quickly and effectively, we will be voluntarily and temporarily suspending the onboarding of new customers.”…
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Japan’s first bitcoin real estate deal closes as a major Japanese crypto exchange is hacked
The Land of the Rising Sun continues to be a cryptocurrency hotbed
It’s increasingly hip for companies to find a way to leverage the blockchain, and a Japanese real estate company called Yitanzi is the latest to get some press for its bitcoin efforts. Yitanzi just completed the country’s first bitcoin-transacted real estate deal, selling a commercial building in Tokyo for 547 bitcoin, almost U.S. $6 million. At the same time, Yitanzi has made it known that it will be accepting other cryptocurrencies in the future, though it hasn’t designated any timeline or specific currencies to implement. So is this sale indicative of a new normal? Not especially. “It certainly opens up the possibilities, but I think the opportunity is in blockchain…
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Japanese technology giant will pay part of employee salaries in bitcoin
The program lands somewhere between a company PR push and a cryptocurrency awareness campaign
A Japanese tech conglomerate called GMO Internet will be paying a portion of its employees’ salaries in bitcoin starting next month. The initiative is open to some 4,000 employees who, if they choose to, can receive up to 100,000 yen (that’s about $900 USD) of their income in bitcoin per month. GMO Internet is a multifaceted company with diverse interests that include cloud computing and advertising technology, but it has been shifting its focus toward cryptocurrency for many months. The firm began operating a cryptocurrency exchange in May, and even started its own bitcoin mining operation shortly after that. It clearly wants to figure out how to best harness this…
