HARA introduced itself to blockchain enthusiasts and entrepreneurs at the Japan Blockchain Conference (JBC), which was held in Tokyo on the 26th and 27th of June. The JBC is one of the largest blockchain gatherings in Japanese history, where many high profile speakers in the blockchain and crypto technology world made an appearance.

The keynote speech was given by Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of leading financial services group SBI Holdings. Other notable speakers included Roger Ver (CEO of Bitcoin.com), Sam Cassat (CSO of ConsenSys), Charles Hoskinson (CEO of IOHK), and many more.

In total, the JBC brought together over 100 cryptocurrency experts and blockchain companies from all over the world. Keeping that in mind, it was not surprising that the organization of the event counted on about 10.000 visitors to swing by.

First Impressions

When HARA’s Regi Wahyu (CEO) and Andy Laver (Japan Representative) arrived at the venue on the first day, they were met by a long line of other attendees queuing to get in. After waiting in line for half an hour, they were finally able to enter the conference hall and join the three to four thousand people that were already inside at 10 AM.

The conference was jam packed with both exhibitors and visitors

“We were very happy to see that this JBC event had a very energetic vibe,” commented Laver, comparing it to the general atmosphere of most finance and tech conferences where there is a lot less excitement in the air.

Over 70 companies from both Japan and overseas had set up exhibitions, which exceeded Laver’s initial expectations — they were bigger than he imagined. During the first day, Wahyu and Laver sat in during several sessions on various topics, and listened to presentations given by the exhibitors and speakers. A presentation given by a blockchain startup from Vietnam caught their interest especially as it hit close to home.

A snap of Regi Wahyu (CEO of HARA) waiting for the next presentation in JBC!

“It was interesting to learn more about the current situation in our neighboring country as we could see that we are facing similar challenges and opportunities,” Regi Wahyu said.

Unfortunately, the HARA team had to leave the conference early in the afternoon for several meetings in a different part of town. However, the energetic ambiance made Wahyu and Laver eager to return for the second day.

Familiar faces

To make most of the time they had left, Wahyu and Laver were at the second day of the JBC practically straight after the doors opened. They browsed the many exhibitor booths before moving on to the booth of a large blockchain technology platform in Japan for a scheduled meeting.

After their meeting, the duo was confronted by a commotion quite unusual for tech events like this one. A mass of Japanese fans were trying to score a selfie with Charles Hoskinson, the former CEO of Ethereum and now CEO of IOHK. Laver noted that even some of the older attendees were lining up, including some older women carrying hand fans with Hoskinsons picture on it.

“It was really fascinating to see such a level of adoration in this large scale tech event,” Laver said, alluding to how large a phenomenon blockchain has already become in Japan.