Cryptocurrency Boom In Japan & UAE

Starting this October the Japanese government and the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) have put virtual currency exchanges operating in the country under government surveillance. So far they have authorised the work of 11 exchange markets, including BitFlyer — the largest cryptocurrency exchange with more than 800 000 users.

The BitFlyer company president Yuzo Kano stated that recognizing and legislating the cryptocurrency exchange markets would allow them to innovate and develop further. According to Kano, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are booming in Japan, therefore legitimising the cryptocurrency exchange markets and letting them work as proper exchange houses is precisely the forward-looking action blockchain needs right now in order to grow.

One of the biggest investors in the BitFlyer platform, the Japanese SBI Holdings company, is also creating a brand new cryptocurrency for regular and P2P operations. According to Nikkei, the cryptocurrency will be blockchain based.

SBI is planning to establish a stable exchange rate with the yen, with the trial period for the currency is slated for next year. They previously teamed up with Ripple in January of this year promoting XRP, the native token used to move value on the Ripple consensus system and that traded on public digital currency exchanges such as Kraken.

On the other hand, the local government in Dubai has officially launched its own cryptocurrency called emCash, according to announcements by local news media outlets. The cryptocurrency would be used for payment of governmental and nongovernmental services.

According to state news agency WAM, Emcredit, a subsidiary of Dubai Economy, and the UK-based Object Tech Group Ltd will work together to establish contactless payments.

Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, said that the token will be considered legal tender “for various government and non-government services, from their daily coffee and children’s school fee to utility charges and money transfers.” Citing various advantages of digital currency, Ali Ibrahim went on to say that emCash will change the way people live and do business in Dubai, and mark a giant leap for the city in harnessing game-changing innovations to improve the ease of business and quality of life.

Muna Al Qassab, CEO, Emcredit Limited, added that emCash also reduces fraud, as well as inflation, since the currency is issued in real time, based on actual demand.

In other news, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs is rumored to be putting together a new trading outfit dedicated to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, according to a new report.

Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reports that Goldman is in the “early stages” of the effort – though it cautioned that the bank may ultimately pass on a cryptocurrency-focused trading operation. The Journal further adds that the trading operation could see input from more than one office within Goldman.