Despite Japanese regulators’ criticism of bitcoin — and the potential looming ban of the cryptocurrency — the country’s largest eCommerce company, Rakuten has officially sealed the deal to help bitcoin acceptance evolve across its marketplace.
While Rakuten has laid out its bitcoin plans, starting with the U.S. — with plans to move into Germany and Austria — last month, there wasn’t an indication when bitcoin would be a standard currency across Rakuten.com. For much of the past year, Japan has looked askance at bitcoin, with the possibility of banning the digital currency outright, a direct response to the bankruptcy woes of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange site that mysteriously lost some $500 million worth of bitcoin.
Japan has since calmed its war against bitcoin, but its Financial Services Agency is said to be reviewing the legitimacy of the digital currency. Their focus is to determine if they should eventually impose stricter restrictions on how bitcoin could be bought, sold and used on eCommerce marketplaces. Now, however, with Japan’s largest online retailer giving bitcoin a look-see through its Bitnet partnership, they could help pave the way to bitcoin acceptance in the country.
“The government will take measures if necessary once we have an assessment of the situation,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told The Wall Street Journal.
So, is bitcoin’s acceptance on another eCommerce marketplace a sign that it is gaining traction? Not likely since there needs to be enough consumers using it – and there really just isn’t at this point. In a news release about the deal, Rakuten indicated their customer base of bitcoin users should see an immediate benefit of using a digital currency, like guaranteed payment, instant global reach with no cross-border fees, no price volatility, and no fraud, risk or chargebacks. Although, to do that, they have to buy bitcoin first.
“Rakuten’s global marketplaces are great examples of how digital currencies can impact global commerce,” said Bitnet CEO John McDonnell.
Rakuten, which has an annual revenue above $5 billion, is currently one of the largest companies to back bitcoin acceptance.
“By integrating with Bitnet we are now offering consumers the industry standard in secure payments, and our merchants will benefit by receiving guaranteed payments,” said Fumio Kobayashi, president of Rakuten.com. “Both consumers and merchants will have peace of mind when participating in the Rakuten.com online marketplace.”
What’s interesting about Rakuten’s bitcoin addition is that it used the Bitnet integration as a way to promote bitcoin on its site by offering customers a $30 promotion for the first week of April. For customers who spend more than $100 worth of bitcoin, those customers get 30 percent back. That alone may get a few curious buyers willing to test out the bitcoin option.
Clearly, Rakuten wants to get its customer base excited about the bitcoin and Bitnet addition.
In an interview last month, Yaz Iida, president of Rakuten USA, said the company’s mission is to “empower the world through the Internet,” and bitcoin, she said, is the way to help its merchants compete on a global scale in a secure manner.
“[Bitcoin] also has the potential to benefit society by enhancing the security, privacy, and convenience of financial transactions,” she said.
Bitcoin got another friend in Japan as Rakuten officially announced it will extend the digital currency’s reach across its marketplace through Bitnet. How will the Japanese regulators respond? We will have to wait and see.
And in other bitcoin news, ex-federal agents were charged with bitcoin laundering (ouch), another bitcoin criminal went to prison and there will no longer be a Bitcoin Bowl. But on the flip side, Texas formed an embassy to support bitcoin, the digital currency is getting more mainstream adoption and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it may eventually look into bitcoin.
Oh, what a week it was for bitcoin.
Bitcoin is trading slightly down from last week’s price of $248.11 and is at $245.09 according to the PYMNTS.com Bitcoin Price index.
As always, if you have any news you’d like to share, please send it our way at contactus@pymnts.com.
Gem, a developer API platform that simplifies integrating bitcoin into apps and services announced on April 2 that it has raised $13 million. The bitcoin startup also announced it’s releasing its multi-signature wallet API to all developers, which the company said will help app developers “sleep better knowing their customers’ bitcoins are safe.”
The company said developments using bitcoin can prove to be difficult due to the complex nature of the digital currency’s structure. But with its API now readily available to any developer, bitcoin may be able to be integrated into more digital wallets — possibly streamlining more bitcoin acceptance.
The Silk Road online illegal drug marketplace has found itself back in the news, as criminal accusations tied to the bitcoins that funded the site have been tangled up in another criminal matter.
Former Drug Enforcement Administration officer Carl Mark Force IV and former Secret Service officer Shaun Bridges have been charged with money laundering and fraud for stealing bitcoins seized during the investigation. Looks like the tables have turned and the ones who accused the bitcoin pirate of illegal activity have become the accused themselves.
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