Author: TechFlow
According to Japanese crypto media Coinpost, on December 20, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan is promoting cryptocurrency tax reforms. Specific measures include applying a 20% separate tax rate to cryptocurrency trading profits and introducing a loss carry-forward system to further enhance the competitiveness of Japan's crypto market. The reform outline is currently in the "review stage."
Once the news was released, it attracted widespread attention from the community to the Japanese crypto market.
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The Japanese crypto market has always been a very unique existence: on the one hand, as the world's fourth largest economy and also the first country to embrace the crypto industry, Japan has a good practical foundation and compliance advantages under a complete regulatory system in developing the crypto economy; on the other hand, precisely because of the intervention of supervision, the Japanese crypto market also has problems such as inefficiency, excessive taxation, and relative closure.
With Bitcoin breaking through the $100,000 mark and crypto-friendly President Trump taking office, many people see 2025 as a key node in the crypto industry. The signal of loosening crypto regulation released by the Japanese government has made many people interested in building Japan's crypto ecosystem.
Based on this, with the simultaneous launch of the native token JOC Coin on six exchanges around the world at 11:00 (Beijing time) on December 23, 2024, Japan Open Chain (Chinese name Japan Public Chain, hereinafter referred to as JOC) has further entered the public eye.
As a practicality-focused and Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 public chain, JOC is managed by the Japan Blockchain Foundation under the Japanese entity GUGroup . It aims to build a secure, high-speed, and low-cost blockchain infrastructure that complies with Japanese laws, providing enterprises and local governments with a stable, reliable, and compliant Web3 business development environment.
Project naming is an art of branding. We rarely see cases where the country is directly written into the project name. JOC directly introduces the word Japan. In a sense, it is a reflection of the project's vision to become Japan's Web3 digital economic infrastructure. Through extensive cooperation with Japan's top national companies and deep penetration into Japan's digital economic consumer sector, its ambition and capabilities are further demonstrated.
In the future, with the Japanese market as the starting point, JOC will also actively seek to cooperate with multinational companies to conduct international business and further move towards the development goal of becoming the cornerstone of the Web3 digital economy.
It’s the end of another year. As the core value carrier of the ecosystem, JOC Coin is listed on six exchanges around the world at the same time. Will it push JOC into a growth flywheel? As 2025 approaches, how will JOC take root in the Japanese crypto ecosystem and realize the large-scale adoption of Web3 in major real-world consumer scenarios?
Through JOC, let us enter the mysterious Japanese crypto market and explore the specific reasons why JOC is worth paying attention to.
Like most Japanese crypto projects, in JOC, we can clearly feel the unique temperament of its Web2 elites working on Web3 projects.
This is understandable. On the one hand, there are not many VCs in Japan that focus on Crypto and Web3, and most active institutions are backed by Japan's Web2. On the other hand, GUGroup , Inc., the company behind JOC, is a company located in Shibuya, Tokyo, that focuses on providing Web3 solutions. Its representative directors, Hidekazu Kondo and Daiaki Inaba, are both from traditional Web2 giants.
This characteristic, which is closely related to Web2, also makes JOC unique in terms of compliance, resources, and ecology.
Compliance has always been considered the only way for Web3 to stand in the sun and move towards large-scale implementation.
Since Web3 projects are based on the decentralized nature of blockchain, and most Web3 projects are currently built based on financial scenarios, they are very likely to cause fraud, market manipulation and other problems, seriously disrupting the government-led centralized financial system. Especially in the field of cross-border transactions, some malicious Web3 projects can easily bypass customer verification (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, becoming a hotbed for crime and terrorism, which is unacceptable to all countries.
On this inevitable path, Japan is a pioneer and explorer at the forefront.
On the one hand, since 1990, Japan has entered the "lost thirty years", and the economy has fallen into a recession with low growth, low employment, low inflation, low wealth, and low leverage. Web3 is regarded by Japan as an important layout to achieve overtaking. Therefore, as a crypto-friendly country, Japan recognized virtual currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin as a means of payment as early as 2016. In addition, on April 6, 2023, Japan also issued a white paper, regarding Web3 as a national strategy.
To this end, the Japanese government has invested a lot of resources in promoting the research and application of blockchain technology. For example, the Japanese Cabinet Office has established a number of special funds to support the innovation and practical application of blockchain technology.
On the other hand, Japan has also guided the compliant and healthy development of the crypto ecosystem by establishing and improving a specific regulatory framework: in 2016, Japan promulgated the Payment Services Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and the Financial Services Agency is responsible for the implementation of these regulations, focusing on exchange registration, network security measures and anti-money laundering agreements.
In addition, Japan has established the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) as a government-approved self-regulatory body to improve industry standards and be responsible for approving tokens listed on exchanges.
In the following years, Japan continued to revise and optimize relevant policies around topics such as enhancing investor protection, cybersecurity, and preventing money laundering, and incorporated cryptocurrency income into the tax system, and a strict and complete regulatory framework gradually became clear.
Although Japan's heavy regulation of the crypto industry has brought many restrictions, resulting in inefficiency, lack of market vitality, and a slight lag in industry hotspots, it has effectively protected the security of user assets during major incidents at exchanges such as FTX, and has been more able to attract the participation of traditional institutions under a compliance framework, further promoting the integration of Web3 with the real world.
For JOC, Japan's unique regulatory system also provides a huge opportunity for the project to become compliant and integrate with a wider range of Web resources.
On the one hand, as early as August this year, JOC's native token JOC Coin announced that it had passed the review of the Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Association JVCEA, and would be sold to ordinary investors through BitTrade, Japan's top crypto exchage that has obtained a Japanese trading license. Under complex regulatory reviews, the period for Japanese crypto projects to obtain regulatory licenses is at least one year, and JOC, which has already passed the approval and completed the compliance process, will undoubtedly have a first-mover advantage over other projects.
On the other hand, observing the Japanese crypto market, it is not difficult to see that the types of Japanese crypto projects are relatively low, mainly NFT and game projects. Although there are also public chain projects, the overall competition is smaller. Under stronger demand and less competitive pressure, JOC has further room for rapid development.
In fact, with its strong compliance advantages, many top Japanese institutions have already shown favor to JOC:
We know that the JOC network is jointly operated by multiple blockchain operating partners to ensure the robustness and credibility of the network. A closer look at the list of JOC operators will surprise many people at its strong lineup: including Sony Group's startup CORGEAR Co. Ltd. , Dentsu Inc., NTT Group's NTT Communications, GU Technologies Inc., insprout Corporation, Kudasai Co., Ltd., Minna Bank, Ltd., pixiv Inc., TIS Inc., Asahi TV Group's extra mile Inc., Kyoto University of Arts, Hatena Co., Ltd., CAC Corporation, CYBERLINKS CO., LTD., SBINFT Co., Ltd. and Nethermind.
It is worth mentioning that in 2025, when Japan sends a strong signal of loosening encryption, more Japanese users, funds, and institutions are expected to enter the encryption industry, and JOC will become the main battlefield for users, funds, and institutions.
How to better welcome the new wave of traffic and improve capital retention and ecological construction becomes the core issue.
In this cycle, calls for consumer-grade applications are gradually growing, but after years of shouting the slogan of "mass adoption", there is still an invisible wall between the crypto market and the real world. This is because building consumer-grade applications is not easy. It not only requires real needs from the real world as value support, but also puts forward higher requirements on user scale, product quality and product experience.
At this time, introducing Web3 solutions to the traditional Web2 business model to provide better and more transparent services has become an efficient choice of "standing on the shoulders of giants". The integration of JOC's powerful Web2 resources + Web3 solutions also gives the project an inherent advantage in ecological construction to quickly penetrate specific consumption scenarios in the real world.
According to the official website, there are currently more than 36 JOC ecosystem partners, including: 16 operators; 12 development partners; 5 stablecoin partners; 1 crypto asset exchange; 5 JOC partner products; and 1 Web3 business promotion partner (the same project has multiple business scenarios, so there is some overlap in the classification).
As the entrance to ecological traffic, a low threshold is the key to building a seamless user experience: JOC currently not only has a native compatible wallet GU Wallet, which supports users to easily and securely store and exchange encrypted assets and NFTs, but also has established cooperation with multiple wallet projects including Fox Wallet.
Stablecoins are seen as an important hub connecting the crypto economy and real finance, and compliant stablecoins with higher credibility, more robust value support and lower systemic financial risks are the general trend, which can effectively promote the standardized development of the industry and expand the market size.
In 2023, Japan implemented the revised Funds Settlement Act, defining stablecoins as a new "electronic payment method". It not only further clarified the status of stablecoins in Japan's legal framework, but also formulated detailed rules to regulate the issuance and use of stablecoins in Japan, providing positive guidance for the development of compliant stablecoins.
Currently, JOC is working with five top Japanese financial institutions, including Aozora Bank, Minna no Bank, ORIX Bank, and Shikoku Bank, to conduct a demonstration experiment of the actual issuance of stablecoins. It is reported that the stablecoin will be available in mainstream wallets such as MetaMask. Compared with cash payments, stablecoins have advantages in cost and speed, so its use is expected to expand as a payment method for inter-company payments and international remittances.
GU Coin Studio is a stablecoin issuance and management system provided by GU Technologies for financial institutions. Through GU Coin Studio, relevant demand parties can manage the issuance and distribution of stablecoins on JOC and connect with existing financial systems.
Outside the banking payment system, the mature development of stablecoins has introduced the grand narrative of RWA, which has grown rapidly this year, into the JOC ecosystem: We know that stablecoins are one of the most important use cases in the RWA track. Stablecoins will play an important role in the development of RWA, such as value measurement, transaction medium, payment method, liquidity hub, etc., enabling the development of RWA. Compliant stablecoins will further amplify their role and become a stronger driving force for the RWA track.
In the future, as JOC's compliant stablecoin matures, combined with JOC's powerful resources in Japan's technology, communications, social networking, cultural creativity, government work, etc., it will become possible to put more real-world assets on the chain, further consolidating JOC's important position as the foundation for Japan's digital economic development.
In fact, in JOC's ecological use cases, this consumer-level trend that is strongly related to RWA is already evident:
Japan has always been regarded as a fertile ground for the development of NFTs due to its strong IP resources in animation, games, etc. There is no shortage of high-quality consumer-grade NFT partners in the JOC ecosystem:
Kyoto University of Arts is the operator of the JOC network and is also the largest art college in Japan. The high-quality art works it nurtures will provide high-quality resources for the development of tracks including NFT; SBINFT, one of the operators, is a subsidiary of SBI Holdings and focuses on NFT-centered Web3 business; SUSHI TOP MARKETING is committed to all functions required for NFT marketing, including the patent-pending NFT Shot; NFT Garden, as a multi-chain NFT issuance platform, plays an important role as an incubator for high-quality NFT projects in the JOC ecosystem.
It is worth mentioning that JOC also cooperates with the government to give full play to the huge advantages of NFT's unique attributes in identity ID. The e-Kaga Citizen system built on JOC aims to provide e-Kaga Citizen ID NFT to residents of Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan for population registration and management. It is one of Japan's important attempts to explore the use of digital technology to build smart cities.
In addition, JOC also cooperated with Japan Post Group to launch NFT art works for the 70th anniversary of the founding of Yamabe Town. As part of the Mirai Post Office plan, users can support Yamabe Town by purchasing NFTs. The proceeds from the sales will be used for the maintenance and development of Yamabe Town. A total of 1,000 sets of NFTs of both types were sold out within two months of the sale.
In addition, JOC's ecological cooperation map also includes infrastructure and development service projects, content service platforms, brand and marketing promotion platforms, smartphone digital banks, decentralized loyalty projects, digital comics platforms, etc., providing its ecological participants with a participation experience that breaks the barriers between Web3 and the real world.
It is worth mentioning that the unique regulatory environment has shaped Japan's unique crypto market. We often see the phenomenon of mismatch of hot spots in Japan's crypto market. Therefore, for Japanese crypto projects, there is a higher demand for strengthening exchanges and cooperation with the international community and promoting the integration of Japan's crypto market into the global market. JOC has already begun to act.
In September this year, Bifrost, a cross-chain project under the blockchain technology company PhiloLab Technology, announced a strategic investment in JOC. The investment aims to promote the market expansion of Web3 enterprises in Japan and around the world and build a blockchain ecosystem for practical applications. Bifrost plans to provide interoperability technical support for JOC and will deploy decentralized applications (DApp) services on its network to further activate the JOC network ecosystem.
According to the signals released by JOC on social media platforms, JOC will actively seek cooperation with international encryption projects in the future. On the one hand, it will promote the development of Japan's encryption economy, and on the other hand, it will bring in global encryption hotspots, and further build a powerful blockchain infrastructure to support the development of the global Web3 digital economy with Japan as the starting point.
Of course, under the grand vision, the more important question is:
Now that the upper-level blueprint has been drawn up, how can the underlying technology provide strong support to provide a safe, efficient, low-cost and seamless ecological participation experience for tens of thousands of users in different scenarios?
The PoA (Proof of Authority) consensus mechanism is the key design for the high performance and scalability of the JOC network.
As the name suggests, authority is the core of the PoA mechanism.
Specifically, there can be an unlimited number of nodes in the PoA consensus mechanism. JOC chose PoA as the underlying consensus on the one hand because it is an important consideration for achieving permissionless access as a public chain. In theory, anyone can participate in blockchain operations by setting up their own nodes/servers and connecting them to the blockchain network. This has higher freedom and inclusiveness, and can introduce diverse cultures and innovations to the ecosystem.
At the same time, the number of network validators (i.e. operators) using the PoA mechanism is limited, and this validator is the "core" mentioned above. The node is mainly responsible for synchronizing blockchain ledger information, while the validator is responsible for verifying transactions and packaging blocks. Due to the limited number of validators, the PoA consensus mechanism blockchain is far more efficient and scalable than public chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Of course, there are also many community members who have doubts about the degree of decentralization of the PoA mechanism. After all, limited validators = limited decentralization. If the validators themselves do evil, launch attacks on the network or tamper with the ledger, it is easy to cause damage to the entire blockchain network.
In response, JOC has also taken multiple measures to maintain the underlying security of the network:
In terms of the number of validators, the JOC network is still in its early stages of development and currently has 16 validators. However, as the pace of ecological construction accelerates in the future, JOC will strive to expand the list of validators to 21 to further enhance the degree of decentralization.
In terms of threshold setting, JOC has extremely high requirements for validators. They come from different industries and different interest groups, and almost all of them are large-scale physical enterprises with a high reputation in Japan. In order to ensure the diversity of validators, JOC also plans to introduce reliable encryption companies and start-ups that can contribute to the ecosystem in the future as validators. Due to the extremely high entry threshold, the PoA consensus mechanism also has a certain guarantee in terms of security.
In this way, JOC achieves a balance between security and efficiency through the PoA mechanism: according to official data, JOC can execute thousands of coin token transactions or hundreds of complex smart contract interactions per second, with transaction fees controlled within 1 yen, and can achieve transaction finality within 5 seconds.
It is worth noting that JOC is fully compatible with Ethereum, which brings greater convenience to the mutual exchange of the two ecosystems: for Ethereum projects that want to enter the Japanese market or more consumer-level scenarios, they can seamlessly migrate to the JOC ecosystem; and for developers interested in building on JOC, Ethereum's massive development tools and resources will greatly lower the threshold for developers and improve efficiency, further bringing greater imagination space for JOC to build a rich ecosystem.
Of course, for JOC, the most important ecological event this year is the launch of JOC Coin. As the native token of JOC, the total issuance of JOC Coin is 1 billion, and there is no mechanism for additional issuance. The deflationary economic model makes the value of the token gradually increase over time. The main purpose of the token is to pay transaction fees on the Japanese public chain. The specific distribution and release rules are as follows:
Recently, JOC announced that in order to ensure liquidity after the IEO issuance, JOC's native token JOC Coin will be launched on six global exchanges at 11:00 (Beijing time) on Monday, December 23, 2024:
This is the first time that Japan has achieved such a global simultaneous launch, and global investors including Japan will be able to purchase JOC Coin. The average daily spot trading volume of these six exchanges exceeds 2.7 trillion yen, which is 75 times the average daily trading volume of all cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, and can provide sufficient market liquidity for JOC Coin. In the future, JOC will also be committed to pushing JOC Coin to be listed on more mainstream exchanges, providing more opportunities for a wider range of users to contact and understand JOC Coin.
It is reported that in the previous IEO conducted on the BitTrade platform, the total planned sales amount of JOC Coin was 1.2 billion yen, including 500 million yen for priority early bird sales and 700 million yen for ordinary lottery sales. However, the actual application amount far exceeded expectations, attracting a total of more than 9 billion yen in funds. The huge enthusiasm for participation shows that users are optimistic about JOC. With the simultaneous listing of the tokens on six major exchanges, more people have high expectations for the future JOC ecosystem construction and the performance of JOC Coin tokens.
For a long time, Japanese Web3 has been a market that cannot be underestimated.
According to the data interpretation of the Japanese market in the article "The Truth about Web3 in the Asia- TechFlow Market" published by TechFlow in 2023: Among Japan's 120 million people, there are more than 5 million Japanese crypto users, based on the standard of holding CEX accounts licensed by the Japanese Financial Services Agency.
With the relaxation of Japan's crypto regulation in 2025, coupled with the good expectations for the crypto market in 2025 worldwide, Japan's crypto market may usher in a new round of growth boom.
For JOC, which has been fully equipped in terms of compliance and resources, leveraging its own strengths and seizing market opportunities are the keys to surviving the new round of competition.
It seems that JOC also understands this very well.
In the coming year of 2025, in addition to the continuous iteration of technology to achieve higher TPS, stronger scalability and more seamless user experience, the stablecoins anchored to the value of Japanese yen/other foreign currencies that JOC has cooperated with major banks will also soon be available to the community, bringing more momentum to the global inclusive digital economy that JOC is committed to building.
The end of the year and the beginning of the next year are more suitable for looking forward to the future.
The community remains looking forward to the subsequent growth performance of the Japanese crypto market and JOC.
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