A year ago, China accounted for 90 percent of all bitcoin trade. But since Beijing banned initial coin offerings (ICOs) and regulators started to crackdown on bitcoin exchanges in September, another Asian powerhouse has swooped in to embrace the crypto movement.

Japan recognized bitcoin as a legal form of payment earlier this year, and bitcoin trade in the country now accounts for about half the volume of global trade, compared with about a quarter in the U.S.

Now big retailers are joining the movement, as the cryptocurrency's legalization has encouraged them to partner with bitcoin exchanges and begin accepting the digital currency as payment.

There's already more than 4,500 stores in Japan that let you pay with bitcoin, and the Nikkei says that number could increase fivefold by the end of the year.