Japan’s Mercari Plans to Accept Bitcoin Payments by June 2024

• Mercari, Japan’s popular online marketplace, plans to accept Bitcoin payments by June 2024.
• Transactions will be facilitated by Mercoin, converting Bitcoin to yen with applicable fees.
• Mercari’s move comes amidst its significant financial growth and aligns with Japan’s crypto-friendly stance.

Mercari, Japan’s popular digital flea market platform boasting over 22 million monthly active users, intends to enable bitcoin payments for its users by June this year, as reported by Nikkei.

Bitcoin Payments on Mercari

Users of the platform will soon have the option to make purchases using bitcoin, while product prices will continue to be displayed in Japanese yen. Tokyo-based blockchain subsidiary Mercoin will facilitate these bitcoin payments, acting as an intermediary to convert bitcoin to yen and imposing transaction fees, similar to those incurred in fiat currency sales.

It recently launched the Mercari Bitcoin crypto trading service, allowing users to buy and sell BTC using proceeds from platform sales. Additionally, the company’s loyalty program allows users to convert points into cryptocurrency.

Mercari, founded in 2013, reported a profit of 2.8 billion yen ($19.4 million) in the third quarter of 2023, compared to 555 million yen in the same period the previous year. The company also recorded 44.27 billion yen in revenue for the same period, marking an 11.2% year-on-year increase.

The company has not provided further comments on this development at the time of reporting.

Japan is known for its crypto-friendly regulatory environment, which has encouraged businesses to offer cryptocurrency-related services. Rakuten, another prominent e-commerce platform in the country, has long supported crypto by enabling users to convert loyalty points to digital assets and developing a native non-fungible token (NFT) platform.