Japan’s largest second-hand e-commerce platform will accept Bitcoin payments

Mercari decided to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method to fulfil the needs of customers.

Japan’s Mercari e-commerce firm was founded in 2013. Mercari marketplace app was first launched in Japan in July 2013 and has since grown to become the country’s largest community-powered marketplace with an average of 10 billion Japanese YEN in transactions carried out on the platform every month. As per data, nearly 94% of citizens in Japan use this platform, which is enough to explain the degree of popularity of the service provided by this giant firm.

Just a day ago, Mercari announced that the company would start accepting Bitcoin payment as an alternative payment option for customers. 

Bitcoin payment option will be available by June of this year & The company will directly convert the accepted Bitcoin into local fiat currency with the help of its Tokyo-based crypto subsidiary Melcoin. 

This news came amid the crypto bull sentiments, where people are expecting a high pump in the trade prices of the flagship crypto assets and obviously, this news will play an important role in bringing more confidence among the crypto investors.

Japan is one of the top crypto-friendly jurisdictions and in this country, crypto assets are defined under the Country’s Payment Services Act which considers cryptocurrencies as payment methods that are not denominated in fiat currency and can be used to pay unspecified persons. 

Also, the crypto companies are required to register with the FSA agency to provide services in the jurisdiction of this country.

In Dec 2023, the country’s tax authority introduced changes to the tax rules for institutional crypto investors. From the new financial year, companies will be only required to pay tax on behalf of the net profits resulting from the sale of crypto. 

All such crypto-focused developments are proof that Japanese government agencies as well as companies are moving toward crypto adoption at a big level.

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