Japan is not only the birthplace of girl idol pop bands, it is also one of the few countries to recognize Bitcoin as a legal payment method.

So, it came as no surprise that someone thought of combining the two, and the final result is the j-pop band named Virtual Currency Girls (Kaso tsuka Shojo).

The band was created and launched by talent management company Cinderella Academy in Tokyo. The Virtual Currency Girls is comprised out of eight female band members, their ages ranging between 15 and 22. Each one of them wears a mask that represents a virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Nem, MonaCoin, Cardano, and NEO.

Their debut song “The Moon, Virtual Currency, and Me” was released on January 7th on the One Hundred Constellation’ s Youtube Channel. The song’s lyrics warn of the dangers of fraudulent ICOs, the importance of cyber security, and other informative pieces regarding the crypto space.

The band is very dedicated to cryptocurrency, but they are not out to encourage investing in cryptocurrencies, but rather to inform as much people about the benefits of blockchain technology:

“It seems that greed precedes and ignores the technology and potential of [cryptocurrencies],” the group’s website states. “That is why we intend to promote entertainment that virtual currency is not a tool of speculation but a technology that creates a wonderful future.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgtLj7zarGc

The group is currently paid in Bitcoin and used a cryptocurrency account to receive payments. But following the $530 million hack that involved the digital currency NEM, said account was frozen. In spite of this, the band refused to be paid in fiat currency.

“Our manager offered to pay us in yen, but we declined,” Hinano Shirahama, who plays Bitcoin in the band, told Reuters.

The band’s goods, tickets and merchandise can only be purchased with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Virtual Currency Girl’s January 12th concert debut attracted a lot of international and domestic media attention. The event was covered by “many domestic media, including WEB media, TBS and TV Asahi,” the group posts on their website, “as well as overseas major media such as Reuters, Financial Times and AFP communication.”

Considering Japan’s friendly attitude towards cryptocurrency, the appearance of such band is quite unsurprising. Only time will tell if this band will be a hit or miss.