Japanese E-Commerce Giant Rakuten to Release Its Own Cryptocurrency

Here’s something interesting. According to the Coin Telegraph, Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce behemoth, is slated to roll out its own cryptocurrency:

Japan’s largest e-commerce company Rakuten, with a market capitalization of over $12.5 bln, is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency called Rakuten Coin based on Blockchain technology and the existing Rakuten Super Points loyalty program.

Rakuten CEO and founder Hiroshi Mikitani, who announced the move during his speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, called Rakuten Coin a “borderless currency,” adding that it would differentiate Rakuten from its competitors and that it would “recreate” the link between retailers and merchants.

“Basically, our concept is to recreate the network of retailers and merchants. We do not want to disconnect [them from their customers] but function as a catalyst. That is our philosophy, how to empower society not just provide more convenience,” Mikitani said.

Rakuten Coin will essentially be a tokenized version of Rakuten’s Super points scheme. The program, which has purportedly given users over $9 billion worth of points during the past 15 years, basically awards customers with points every time he or she makes a purchase on Rakuten. These points can then be used to discount future purchases, or even buy actual goods or services. Now, Mikitani wants you to imagine what it’ll be like if he converts that into cryptocurrency.

As interesting as that sounds however – I’m actually curious how well it’ll work – Rakuten has not provided details as to when it will actually be launched.

Photo: PriceMinister