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Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Sony Bank are issuing Security Tokens
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), one of the largest banks in Japan, and Sony Bank have announced that they are collaborating with Securitize to tokenize a joint money trust backed by loan receivables. Securitize is specialized in the issuance and management of security tokens, tokens that are digital representations of financial securities such as stocks or bonds.
Takeaway: Security tokens gained popularity after the ICO boom ended as an alternative rooted in traditional finance that would be backed by existing assets. Benefits of them include accessibility, increased efficiency as well as making previously illiquid assets such as real estate tradable. With the first tokenization of a joint money trust, Japanese financial institutions are taking another step in establishing Japan as a place for innovation, proving that tokens and securities laws can go hand in hand.
Consensys study finds Japanese don’t understand crypto
When Consensys conducted a worldwide survey on people’s awareness and knowledge of crypto, they came to some interesting conclusions. While worldwide, 92% of the 15,158 respondents said they had heard of crypto, in Japan, that number sat at 80%. What’s more, despite that relatively high awareness, only a third of the Japanese answered that they understood what crypto is. NFTs and Metaverse were slightly more familiar concepts to them, maybe also thanks to the popularity of Vtubers such as Edo Lena.
A vast majority of those that did invest in crypto are holding Bitcoin, followed in popularity by Ether. When asked about barriers to crypto, market volatility, not knowing where to start, scams, and complexity of the tech were top reasons keeping people from exploring further.
On the bright side, only 21% of the Japanese population had heard about the likes of FTX, voyager, and Celsius in the past year, which might explain why only a few believe these to have had a big impact on the market.
You can read the entire survey here.
Takeaway: Narratives that push adoption in other countries, such as lack of access to banking, or cross-border transfers, might not resonate as well in Japan. It’s a unique market that will require teams wanting to succeed to develop a deep understanding of its dynamics. A good start is addressing the key barriers that are holding people back.
Japanese stablecoins coming to Cosmos
Since the 1st of June, Japanese financial institutions can issue stablecoins as long as they adhere to core principles such as maintaining full collateralization and providing traders with the ability to swap at face value at any given time. Now Toki is leading the way in bringing such stablecoins to the Cosmos ecosystem. Earlier this year, the IBC bridging solution had partnered with Progmat, the stablecoin platform created by Mitsubishi UFJ, and now the team is collaborating with Noble to bring Japanese stablecoins to Cosmos. Noble is an asset issuance platform focused on institutions providing them with high liquidity and serving as a gateway to Cosmos.
Takeaway: Thanks to the clear framework for stablecoins in Japan, one can expect them to become a trusted vehicle for businesses, consumers, and traders to pay or simply hold value in the context of web3. With Noble’s integration, any project in Cosmos will be able to tap into Japanese stablecoins opening up an entire ecosystem.
In other news 📰
- Masaaki Tiara, a Japanese politician of the Liberal Party (LDP) has issued a soulbound NFT which will offer holders access to an event hosted in his office. He is a big advocate of combining web3 and government, showcasing just one use case with this initiative.
- The global exchange OKX is halting trading for Japanese residents. Any exchange catering to Japanese residents has to register with the local authorities and apply for a license.
- Mitsui Bussan, a big Japanese general trading company, is partnering with Animoca Brands, a web3 fund focused on gaming and the metaverse, to innovate and establish joint ventures in areas ranging as far as carbon credits and wellness.
- Startale Labs raises $3.5 million from Sony Network Communications and enters a business alliance to drive the adoption of web3. Combining their strengths, the parties will work on onboarding enterprises and developing the necessary infrastructure to support them.
- IVS, Japan’s biggest startup event taking place in Kyoto from June 28 - 30th, attracted over 12,000 participants, a 5-fold increase highlighting the interest in startups and crypto.
Events 📅
- July 6th - 20th Japan Game Journey: Sakaba, an NFT launchpad, is hosting this multi-day event which includes various game quests to earn rewards and prizes.
- July 13th: Web3 & NFT Product Meetup: A meetup bringing together company and product managers to discuss opportunities and challenges of running NFT-based businesses.
Japan Fact🗾: Japanese like trains a lot. And while you might know Otaku only in reference to Anime and electronics, geeky fandom applies to any area, including trains. But not all train nerds are created equally. According to Sora News, there are at least 36 different type of Densha Otaku, from those who like to walk around the station to those who are really more into the statin bento boxes. 🚅