It is no exaggeration to say that Rakuten is now a household name, with a presence in a diverse range of industries, including e-commerce, finance, telecommunications and sports. The same can be said of the Web 3.0 industry.
Rakuten NFT, released in February last year, attracted a great deal of attention even before the service was launched. Rakuten NFT has been well received for its beginner-friendly design, including easy use with Rakuten ID and the ability to settle payments using credit cards in addition to cryptographic assets.
Above all, the fact that Rakuten points, a key element of the huge Rakuten economic zone, can be used and credit card payments can be used to accumulate points, also creates opportunities for users to use the service.
Rakuten has been active in the crypto-asset space since before Web 3.0 became a buzzword, through its crypto-asset exchange Rakuten Wallet. It became a major topic of conversation as ‘that Rakuten has entered the crypto asset space’.
Rakuten Wallet, like Rakuten NFT, is characterised by its ability to use Rakuten points. As crypto assets can be purchased with points accumulated from daily purchases, the barrier to entry is relatively low for beginners. Furthermore, Rakuten Wallet allows users to charge their crypto assets to Rakuten Cash, which can be used at Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Travel, etc.
This allows for substantial crypto asset payments using Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto assets. This is an important initiative for the spread of crypto asset payments in Japan and for expanding the scope of Web 3.0.
Rakuten Wallet is attracting attention as a crypto asset exchange under the well-known Rakuten brand, but what strategy will it pursue in the future? It will also be interesting to see Rakuten's view on Web 3.0.
We spoke to Yasuhiro Sasaki, who supports Rakuten Wallet as CIO and executive officer, about the future of the exchange and his views on Web 3.0.
Mr Sasaki joined Rakuten Wallet in 2018 and is in charge of systems and security. With interest in security in particular growing year by year, what is Mr Sasaki's perspective on the business?
