– Kei Oda is the head of Japan and the Asia-Pacific region for Quantstamp, a Web3 security firm.
– He spent 16 years trading bonds at Goldman Sachs before getting involved in cryptocurrencies out of boredom.
– Kei believes that Japan has a vibrant crypto ecosystem, especially with the acceptance of Bitcoin as a payment method.
– However, taxation has been a major hindrance for the Japanese crypto scene, with high tax rates on crypto trading profits.
– The Japanese government is making efforts to attract more companies and talent to the country’s crypto industry.
– Kei helped create an event called Tokyo Blockchain Night to provide a networking platform for crypto enthusiasts without sales pitches.
– The collapse of FTX had a limited impact on the Japanese market due to stricter regulations on asset custody.
– Japanese regulations have become more strict after the CoinCheck hack, leading to an increase in Japanese crypto activity.
– The MUFG, the world’s largest banking conglomerate in Japan, is planning to launch stablecoins.