Japan Archives

Bitcoin Trading in Japan Rises as Yen Turns Volatile

The share of bitcoin trade volume on Japanese exchanges rose from 69% to 80% in the first six months of the year, data tracked by Kaiko show.

Since the Federal Reserve (Fed) started its aggressive interest rate hike campaign in March 2022, the Japanese yen has depreciated sharply, registering one of the most severe exchange rate turbulence on record.

The volatility has traders from Japan-focused digital assets exchanges turning to bitcoin (BTC), the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market value, widely touted as a hedge against traditional finance.

The share of bitcoin trade volume on Japanese exchanges rose from 69% to 80% in the first six months of the year, according to data tracked by Paris-based Kaiko. The total trading volume on Japanese exchanges was $4 billion in June, amounting to a 60% year-to-date surge.

The share of the bitcoin-Japanese yen (BTC/JPY) pair in total volume in bitcoin-fiat trading pairs has also increased from 4% to 11% this year.

“It signals rising appetite on Japanese markets,” Dessislava Aubert, research analyst at Kaiko, said in an email. Kaiko’s aggregate figures for Japan represent data from Bitflyer, Coincheck, Bitbank, Quoine, and Zaif.

Bitcoin is widely considered a digital gold and a hedge against traditional finance and fiat currencies, which are said to lack intrinsic or fixed value and are not backed by any tangible asset. Citizens from countries ridden with inflation and fiat currency volatility have previously embraced digital assets.

Bitcoin has surged 84% to over $30,000 this year while trading at a premium on Japanese exchanges.

“On average, BTC traded at a premium ranging between 0.5% and 1.25% on Japanese markets this year,” Dessislava Aubert, research analyst at Kaiko, said in an email.

The yen has depreciated 6.3% against the U.S. dollar this year, extending the past year’s near 14% slide. The divergent monetary policy paths adopted by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan, which has maintained its pro-easing stance amid global tightening, have been primarily responsible for the yen’s decline.

The chart shows trading activity on Japan-focused exchanges has picked up faster than Korean markets and the Nasdaq-listed Coinbase exchange.

The trend might continue considering Japan already has a regulatory framework, unlike the U.S. where authorities still rely on enforcement to oversee the industry. Last month, Japan passed a landmark stablecoin bill for investor protection.

The yen volatility will likely persist as speculation is simmering that the Bank of Japan could announce a hawkish tweak to its policy next week.

Lastly, the unthinkable is happening – inflation is rising in Japan and a key gauge that excludes energy component recently hit a four-decade high. Higher inflation after decades of chronic deflation may see more robust demand for perceived alternatives like bitcoin.

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Japan opts for wind and hydrogen to help achieve its green future

Japan is seeking to develop alternative energies such as offshore wind and hydrogen, which can adapt to the country’s geography, but also to the climate events it experiences.

Producing alternative energy is a priority for Japan. The country aims to reach between 36%-38% of renewable power supplies and reduce its greenhouse emissions by 46% by 2030, and energy policies will be one of the issues at the top of the agenda at the G7 Summit to be held in Japan in mid-May.

Its technology is at the forefront of this green revolution, and in this latest episode of Spotlight, we travel to the remote Goto Islands in the Prefecture of Nagasaki, in the South of Japan, to visit a milestone offshore floating wind farm.

Goto’s floating wind farm

With limited land but a large coastal area, offshore wind power could be the answer to Japan’s future energy needs, but it comes with challenges.

Goto is one of the most hard-hit typhoon areas in Japan, a strategic testing zone for the resistance of these floating turbines.

Japan relies on both floating and bottom-fix turbines to generate power. The bottom-fix wind power station of Akita was the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the country. Both types are adapted to Japan’s complex topography and natural disasters.

“The fixed type has to be fastened to the seabed, but in Japan the sea gets deep very quickly,” explained Ushigami Kei, the Executive manager of Goto Floating Wind Farm LLC.

“It is built by setting first a foundation on the seabed, so it is affected by the topography and geology of the seabed. The floating type is connected by a chain, but it is strong against earthquakes because it is not affected by the sea ground topology.”

The challenge for these floating structures is to deal with typhoons and the power of waves. Stabilisation mechanisms take knowledge from shipbuilding technology to minimize the swaying.

“The structure is designed to be stable by lowering the centre of gravity with heavy concrete elements on the lower part of the floater. This makes the structure resistant to the strong winds of typhoons,” Ushigami Kei added.

Ground surveys play a key role in designing cutting-edge facilities like Goto’s to withstand natural disasters.

Professor Ishihara from the University of Tokyo is one of the most renowned engineers working on risk evaluation of wind.

“In the case of Japan, not only are very strong typhoons blowing, but the usual winds are not very strong. Therefore, we need to solve those two problems at the same time,” he explained.

“One solution is to lengthen and slim down the blade. By increasing the length, the normal power generation also increases. Thinner blades also reduce excess wind during typhoons. By using Japanese carbon fibre technology, it is possible to create very long, thin and strong blades.”

Goto Wind Farm will start commercial operations in January 2024.

Hydrogen cargo vessels

The port of Kobe is home to the world’s first liquified hydrogen carrier. Hydrogen is another clean energy that Japan is focusing on. It was the first country to draw up a hydrogen strategy in 2017.

Now it is planning an ambitious new target to boost annual supply to 12 million tonnes for 2040. Hydrogen is produced in Australia and shipped to Japan by sea, freezing it to minus 253 degrees Celsius and compressing it into a liquid.

It has done the round trip twice since it was launched in 2021.

“Here we have the hydrogen tank, here in blue you have the mouth and under there is the tank. The size of the tank is 1,250 cubic meters,” revealed Yamamoto Shigeru, the Executive Officer and Deputy General Manager of the Hydrogen Strategy Division for Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries has developed a full hydrogen supply chain in Kobe, providing heat and power supply to the urban area.

Japan relies largely on the import of hydrogen. To use it as a regular energy source, it is necessary to reduce the costs.

“The cost of hydrogen can be reduced by transporting it in larger quantities. In order to bring the cost down to the same or even less than fossil fuels it is necessary to scale up first,” Yamamoto Shigeru explained. “To reach that purpose, we will build large ships and also large tanks at the receiving base. We would like to create a larger infrastructure and scale it up for commercialisation.”

The next project is a large-scale vessel more than 100 times bigger.

With this focus on innovation, Japan is pioneering the global clean energy transition and moving closer to achieving its climate change ambitions.

Stablecoins Are the ‘Glue’ Between the Real Economy and Blockchain: Binance Japan General Manager

Binance Japan may be still “a long way off” its business and activities being properly understood and in gaining regulatory acceptance, said the exchange’s Tsuyoshi Chino.

The general manager of Binance Japan described stablecoins as the “glue” between the real economy and the blockchain in an interview with CoinDesk Japan.

Tsuyoshi Chino, speaking ahead of Binance’s re-entry into Japan via its acquisition of regulated crypto exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin, described how volatility of crypto prices may lead to profit opportunities but will not help stimulate broader demand for cryptoassets.

“We believe that stablecoins will serve as the glue between the real economy, the blockchain economy, and the Binance ecosystem,” Chino said. “When you do something stably, price fluctuations become noise.”

Stablecoins are pegged to the value of traditional assets, usually fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, and therefore are designed to be free of the price swings that often afflict cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC).

Rival crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN) and Kraken have both withdrawn from the Japanese market in the last six months, citing “market conditions” as the reason.

Chino said crypto winter may be hampering the traditional model of a crypto exchange business, given how lower valuations and trading volume will diminish revenue from fees. He said that Binance’s vision for “economic freedom” through crypto and blockchain technology supersedes the exchange business model and the present market conditions.

“The ecosystem has many facets,” he said. “For example, we will provide various services from a different angle to finance, and we will also provide various IP (intellectual property) contents in the form of Web3.”

Binance’s move back into Japan next month will come two years after the exchange received warning from the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) that it was operating there without permission.

Chino described how one of the keys to gain regulatory acceptance in Japan is ensuring understanding of how its products work in order to gain trust, something he admits may be a challenge.

“We are confident about our product and technology, but we are still a long way off in terms of whether the company Binance and its activities are properly understood,” he said.