XRP Could See Fresh Demand As Japan’s Rakuten Unlocks Loyalty Point Conversions

Japan’s biggest loyalty program may have just become one of crypto’s most unexpected entry points. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Hit $85K Before April Ends, Analyst Says A Rewards System Worth $23 Billion Opens Up Rakuten is sitting on more than 3 trillion loyalty points — valued at roughly $23 billion — and users can now convert those points into XRP. That single detail changes the nature of this integration. It is not just another tech company adding a crypto option. It is an existing, widely used rewards system being turned into a direct path into digital currency, no....

Japanese retail giant Rakuten has integrated its crypto wallet with its payment app, enabling consumers to directly load and convert their Bitcoin holdings for use in everyday spending. Crypto-friendly Japanese retailer Rakuten is now enabling users of Rakuten Wallet, its crypto exchange subsidiary, to easily spend their cryptocurrency holdings in everyday transactions. According to an announcement published on Feb. 24, users are now able to load up their Rakuten Pay accounts seamlessly with their wallet holdings of Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ether (ETH). Rakuten Pay is a mobile....

“Rakuten’s mission is to empower the world through the Internet,” commented Yaz Iida, President of Rakuten USA. “Not only can bitcoin support this vision by helping our merchants better compete globally, but it also has the potential to benefit society by enhancing the security, privacy, and convenience of financial transactions.” Rakuten, a giant in Japan’s business world, will now allow US customers to pay for items on its website, Rakuten.com (formerly buy.com), which offers almost everything one could think to buy. From kitchen appliances, office supplies, videos games, books and more,....

Japan's largest Internet company Rakuten Inc., announced today it has started to accept Bitcoin as a payment option on its American portal Rakuten.com. The company said this first integration should be followed closely by other global marketplaces integrations, including its German and Austrian e-commerce portals. According to a press release issued today that it had integrated Bitnet's payment processing platform on a number of its marketplaces. "Rakuten’s mission is to empower the world through the Internet," Yaz Iida, President of Rakuten USA, said. "Not only can bitcoin support this....

Tokyo-based e-commerce company Rakuten, is planning to acquire the intellectual property assets of Bitcoin payment processor, BitNet. Rakuten Inc, has already started to negotiate with the California-based company to purchase BitNet’s various intellectual properties. Potentially for its blockchain digital asset management, payment and B2B cross-border remittance services which will allow the e-commerce business to experiment and modify services to better fit its e-commerce needs. According to the Wall Street Journal, it is believed that Rakuten might be using BitNet’s IP assets to develop....