On Nov. 11, Cointelegraph Japan reported that the Crypto Assets Antique Association (CAAA) was established with the purpose of promoting the use of crypto assets in the antique trade. CAAA’s representative director Ji Komiya said, “I want to connect to new activities to promote the spread of virtual currency.”
This week’s news from Japan included additional comments against crypto trading from China, Binance’s potential involvement in Japan, positivity from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more crypto exits from European Union (EU) regions, and stablecoin positivity from France.
In this week’s selected cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news from Japan, a new association promoting crypto assets in antiquing was born, a well-known cryptocurrency trader was arrested and the Kyoto University started participating in the XRP ledger.
Crypto Antiquing Association Launches
Specifically, the organization promotes crypto asset adoption by antiquarian merchants, who sell second-hand rare goods for cryptocurrency.
Famous Japanese cryptocurrency trader arrested for drugs
A well-known Japanese cryptocurrency trader, Kazuma “Kazmax” Yoshizawa, was arrested for allegedly violating the Narcotics Control Law on Nov. 11.
Law enforcement reportedly asked Yoshizawa to provide a sample of his urine and he tested positive for the use of the synthetic drug MDMA. He denies the accusations and claims that the drug was mixed into his drink in a club.
Stellar moves in Japan
Stellar (XLM) was listed on Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck on Nov. 12. Cointelegraph Japan reported that the price of XLM on Coincheck soared by 46% following the listing. The trading platform also announced that it will grant to its users 28 million XLM tokens in an airdrop.
The company received the tokens two years ago from the Stellar Foundation and intends to give them away to its users next year. The users targeted in the airdrop were Bitcoin holders as of June 2017, and Coincheck received the coins by holding BTC for its clients.
The University of Kyoto is an XRP validator
The University of Kyoto is now maintaining a transaction validator for Ripple’s XRP Ledger. This is reportedly the first blockchain validation operation by a Japanese University so far. A validator on the XRP is a node that validates – hence the name – transactions and consequently secures the network. Ripple senior director Emi Yoshikawa announced:
“In the same way that the Internet has spread to the roots of the network to connect university networks and became the basis of a stable network, a neutral university organization has become a validator in the blockchain. I think it is very important to be the core of a healthy and healthy network.”
China reaffirms its stance against crypto trading
Crypto-hostile China has once again confirmed its ban on crypto asset trading, according to comments from Beijing’s director of Financial Supervisory Administration Huo Xuewen.
«Virtual currencies cannot be used as legitimate digital currencies,» Huo said to a Chinese news outlet on Jan 11, also adding that distributing and trading such assets is also unlawful.
«China does not allow cross-border cryptocurrency trading”, Huo continued. “No company can sell foreign cryptocurrencies in China and exchange cryptocurrencies with RMB.”
Binance aims to enter Japanese market through Tao Tao collaboration
Crypto exchange giant Binance is reportedly discussing collaborative terms with Z Holdings’ daughter company Z corporation, and Tao Tao, a digital asset trading platform in which Z corporation is invested. Z Holdings was previously known as Yahoo! Japan.
The three entities are reportedly working on a deal that would result in a trading platform for citizens of Japan, in line with regulation.
New Japanese working group to consider security token offering regulations
As Cointelegraph Japan reported, on Jan. 16, the Japan STO Association has announced the formation of a new working group to develop guidance for regulating security token offerings in the country.
The new working group plans to focus on the mechanics of token operations, the functions of token holders, their use of blockchain, and their storage.
Crypto exchange Coincheck has begun distributing Stellar airdrop
Major Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck announced on Jan. 14 that they have begun distributing the 28 million Stellar XLM ($1.7 million) received in a 2017 airdrop.
Stellar, which launched in 2017, burned nearly $5 billion in tokens on Nov. 5. Shortly after, the token’s price rose substantially, only to slip for the next several months before seeing some gains in early January alongside a major bull market across the crypto world.
