Blockchain technology has gotten a major boost in Japan as Rakuten has committed itself to the research and development of blockchain solutions for e-commerce. Meanwhile, Ripple’s Asian branch has announced a new bank consortium to build and deploy a blockchain-enabled platform for payments and settlements. Japan’s internet and e-commerce giant Rakuten has opened a new blockchain lab in Belfast, Ireland, dedicated to developing blockchain applications for the fintech and e-commerce sectors. The launch of the Rakuten Blockchain Lab (RBL) follows the firm’s acquisition of Bitnet Technologies, a bitcoin startup specializing in merchant payment solutions. Rakuten, which participated in Bitnet’s US$14.5 million Series A funding round in late 2014, had been partnering with the startup since March 2015 to allow bitcoin payments on its e-commerce platform. The new lab is headed up by Bitnet co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Stephen McNamara and Vice President of Engineering Fergal Downey. According to Yasufumi Hirai, group executive vice president, CIO, chief information security officer (CISO) and head of the Technology Division of Rakuten, Inc., RBL is the "first step forward unlocking blockchain’s potential to revolutionize the way the financial and e-commerce transactions are conducted." "We want to not only prepare for that change, but take a leading role in making it happen," Hirai said, as quoted by Rakuten Today . The launch of RBL come simultaneously with the announcement of a new bank consortium in Japan led by SBI Ripple Asia, Ripple’s Asian arm. The group plans to build and deploy a blockchain-based settlement platform for both foreign and domestic exchange services. The platform, which will be using Ripple, is expected to be ready by March 2017, according to a media release from SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple. Starting from October 2016, the consortium will start exploring […]
