Major ecommerce firm likely to accept crypto

Japanese ecommerce firm Rakuten is going to update its Rakuten Pay mobile application. The app is getting a new structure which indicates that it will support cryptocurrency payments alongside early supported fiat payments. The company stated that ‘all payment solutions [will be] embedded into one platform’ starting from March 18th 2019.

Rakuten, often dubbed the Japanese Amazon, is also owner of a cryptocurrency exchange called Everybody’s Bitcoin. This exchange became part of the subsidiary Rakuten Payment in January, which also includes the prepaid card called Rakuten Edy. Because cryptocurrency payments are already a part from Rakuten Payment, it’s basically implied that Rakuten Pay will support crypto.

In 2018 Rakuten reported earnings close to 1.3 billion dollars. This is an increase of 28.4 percent compared with 2017. The web shop has been accepting bitcoin since March 2015 and is considered one of the forerunners in crypto acceptance in Japan.

Rakuten taking a step into crypto is a major move for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies. In the United States Overstock.com has been accepting crypto payments since August 2017, while travel website Expedia has been on the front lines as well.

Originally published at NEDEROB.