Japan: Rakuten Bank Now Allows Millions Of Its Customers To Buy Crypto

Japanese e-commerce giant, Rakuten, which was recently granted a license by Japan’s Financial Service Authority (FSA) to operate as a cryptocurrency exchange, on April 15 launched their account registration services for their new wallet, Rakuten Wallet.

Users who are members of “Rakuten Bank” will have an easier time creating a wallet, only requiring an update of information on a web application. The central processing of KYC that Rakuten implements is also a factor in increasing adoption. Rakuten’s official statement reads,

…we have enhanced support for customers by introducing an automatic response chat service that employs AI technology that responds to customer inquiries 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, we plan to provide a smartphone app so that you can deposit and withdraw from the crypto asset trading account and trade in crypto assets (virtual currency) regardless of location.

A Big Boost in Adoption?

Rakuten is Japan’s biggest e-commerce player and is considered to be “Japan’s Amazon.” Reports began petering out earlier this year that Rakuten would soon allow users to trade cryptocurrencies, and cryptoenthusiasts have been excited about Rakuten accepting crypto payments on its platform, which operates in 29 countries. The exchange had previously said that it was looking to have several payments options “embedded into one platform.”

The scale of Rakuten’s operations and their earnest efforts to onboard more users onto their crypto services could be a strong driver in adoption, in a time where an increasing number of established entities are warming up to cryptocurrencies.