E-Commerce giant Rakuten enter the cryptocurrency market - Why is this a big deal?

Japanese e-commerce tycoon Rakuten, announced back in 2018 that they had an interest in building their own cryptocurrency. In late March 2019, it is now confirmed they will be launching their own cryptocurrency exchange and ‘Rakuten Wallet,’ set to go live in June.

So why is this a big deal?

Rakuten are an e-commerce giant. Having established their selves as the Amazon of Japan through the 2000s. Rakutens e-commerce business model over the last 10 years has been to acquire successful e-commerce platforms across the globe and merge them into the Rakuten brand. Whether this be play.com in the UK, PriceMinister in France or Ozon.ru in Russia; Rakuten has been systematically using their buying power to grow internationally.

Over the last 20 years Rakuten has earnt a strong reputation as a leader within the e-commerce marketplace world. Crucially this is an industry that’s core building blocks are made up of consumer trust, security and impeccable customer service. This is a big deal for cryptocurrency as these factors are often the exact apprehensions people have when considering a move into digital assets and cryptocurrency storage.

With consistent yearly acquisitions, CEO Mikitani Horishi has a clear long-term vision of making Rakuten a household name across the globe. They are very much the opposite of a crowdsourced ICO developing an exchange, with their entry into the cryptocurrency world being the epitome of ‘big money entering the market’.

With an annual revenue of $9.4B USD, 15,000 employees at their disposal and an existing multi-million customer base, we expect Rakuten to quickly become a powerhouse for the cryptocurrency market in Japan in 2019 and as their previous business model suggests, we can then expect a further global strategy to follow.