Rakuten Announces Crypto Support By 2019

As per recent reports, Rakuten, a Japan based eCommerce giant has announced that they will now be expanding the functionality of their payment application and subsequently integrating cryptocurrency support while doing so.

As most people know, cryptocurrencies have over the years become quite popular in Japan and has exhibited quite a momentum when it comes to it’s growth. Rakuten, which is better known for its online store that is akin to Amazon, seems to finally have taken a gamble with cryptocurrency as the emerging sphere continues to grow.

During its latest earnings report, a very surprising announcement was made public which has incited quite a lot of excitement amongst its users.

The Rakuten payment application will be receiving a large overhaul. When the new version will be made available during March 2019, users will be also be capable of benefiting from quite the significant change. Rakuten Card and payment cards, barcodes and QR code payments will be given primacy as native payment support methods.

Inspite of all that had been reported on this issue, it has not been completely clarified as to what type of functionality will be included for the time being. One interesting thing to note is that Rakuten did acquire a local Bitcoin exchange during its third quarter in 2018. The exchange known as Minna no Bitcoin, a platform provides convenient access to purchase, sell, and trade Bitcoin in Japan.

Even so, it seems like the exchange core functionality will be integrated into Rakuten Pay moving forwards. Including the support for linked credit cards and QR code payments, some very interesting observations will be witnessed in the coming future. Whether any specific limit has been included or additional KYC verification is necessary, remains to be seen for the time being.

However, Minna no Bitcoin platform has also seen very little activity going on for it once acquired by Rakuten. This has prompted experts in believing that, this platform might undergo a facelift of sorts. Services have been stated to continue during April of 2019. This means that the Rakuten Pay app will be released with cryptocurrency functionality before the associated platform itself continues its usual operations.

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.