Table of Contents
In recent years, an increasing number of listed companies in various industries have been involved in Web 3.0 businesses such as blockchain, crypto assets, NFT, and Metaverse. Here we look at the stock price trends of related stocks mainly in the service industry.
Category : Service industry
Operates sales platform “Rakuten NFT”, etc.
Rakuten Group operates Web 3.0 platforms such as “Rakuten NFT” and “Rakuten Wallet”.
Rakuten Group has been providing crypto asset withdrawal services in Japan through its subsidiary Rakuten Wallet since September 2019, and officially announced its entry into the NFT space in August 2021. Rakuten NFT” was launched as an NFT marketplace and sales platform.
Rakuten NFT aims to “democratize the NFT market” and has both a marketplace where NFTs can be bought and sold between individuals and a platform where IP holders can publish NFTs and build sales sites. In 2022, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd., which operates the GameFi platform, to promote collaboration in the Web 3.0 domain.
Currently, the company's mobile business is not performing remarkably well and continues to lose money, which is affecting its stock price, but it already has a large number of users in the Rakuten economic sphere. As Rakuten Economic Space is expected to expand further, if Rakuten Mobile, which is currently in the red, recovers its performance and the Web 3.0 business gets back on track, the stock price could rise if the group as a whole is boosted.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
Share price is expected to fluctuate depending on whether the Web 3.0 business gets back on track and Rakuten Mobile recovers from losses.
Category：Services industry
Launched “Melcoin” on the back of 20 million users
Mercari, the largest company in the flea market app industry, introduced crypto assets for transactions on flea market apps with the establishment of Melcoin
Mercari, Japan's largest flea market platform, established Melcoin in April 2021 for the purpose of planning and developing services related to crypto assets and blockchain. Melcoin completed its registration as a crypto asset exchanger by the Financial Services Agency in June 2022.
It launched its bitcoin trading service in March 2023. As a result, a huge number of Mercalli users (20 million monthly users) will be able to access crypto assets. The service is also highly convenient, allowing users to apply, buy and sell in as little as 30 seconds on the Mercalli app, and to purchase with sales proceeds or points from Mercalli.
In the future, Melcoin will focus on crypto asset payments, aiming to launch bitcoin payments first. If Mercalli, which has a very large number of users, can demonstrate its superiority in crypto asset payments, it has the potential to dominate not only the Web 3.0 domain, but also various other domains, including the financial domain.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
Although the major struggles of companies such as Mercari US are a cause for concern, the domestic market is strong, and the crypto asset business, including Mercoin, is highly promising.
Category：Services
Hakuhodo DY Holdings (2433) is growing its presence in the Web 3.0 domain through its NFT business and hackathons.
Established Hakuhodo Key Three, a joint venture with Stake Technologies, to actively plan and hold hackathons
Advertising agency giant Hakuhodo DY Holdings has established Hakuhodo Keithley, a joint venture with Stake Technologies, developer of the Astar Network, a public blockchain from Japan, in 2022.
With the goal of “creating Web 3.0 services from Japan that represent the world,” Hakuhodo Keithley will encourage the development of practical Web 3.0 services that take into account the strengths and practical needs of the sponsor companies.
Hakuhodo is actively planning and holding hackathons, and recently announced the “web3 Global Hackathon 2023” to be held from September 30, with Mazda and Mitsubishi Estate as sponsors.
Hakuhodo has been working to utilize NFT and the Metaverse through its subsidiaries, and in March 2022, launched the NFT business project “Hakuhodo DY Play Asset”.
This project is working on countermeasures against counterfeit goods, and also operates “animap,” a marketplace for a wide range of Japanese content, mainly anime, manga, games, and art, in NFT format.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
The company's initiatives in the Web 3.0 area, such as the use of NFT and the metaverse, are also prominent, but do not expect too much from a stock price perspective.
Category: Service industry
Established CA GameFi, a blockchain game business
The company is also focusing on the blockchain game business, and is expected to develop its own world-standard technology and grow its business in the future.
CyberAgent established “CA GameFi” in March 2022 as a strategic subsidiary in the Web 3.0 and blockchain domain.
CA GameFi provides planning and development of original titles optimized for blockchain games and IP games of other companies to Asia, the U.S., and other parts of the world, and is also developing the NFT project “Project TB”. The fact that CyberAgent has stated that it has high expectations for NFT and blockchain games is evident from the fact that it has announced that it will invest over 1 billion yen in Project TB.
CyberAgent has also established “CyberMetaverse Productions,” a company specializing in the development of virtual stores that support sales promotion activities of companies in the metaverse space.
CyberAgent has also established CyberMetaverse Productions, a company specializing in the development of virtual stores to support sales promotion activities of companies in the metaverse space.
The key to share price growth will be how quickly the company can develop its business through these affiliated companies.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
New business trends will make the difference between bright and dark amid expected volatility in profits from the game business
Category: Service industry
Development of “MIXI M” and release of “DAZN MOMENTS
MIXI, a company with expertise in both communication and games, has also entered the blockchain game domain.
MIXI, which revamped its logo and corporate brand in January 2022, is rapidly developing businesses that utilize NFT, and in 2021, it formed a business alliance with Dapper Labs, which has already developed the NFT service “NBA Top Shot,” to explore the creation of new businesses that utilize the blockchain flow provided by the company. The company sought to create new businesses utilizing the company's blockchain Flow.
Subsequently, the company launched a full-fledged NFT business jointly with DAZN, a major video streaming company, and released “DAZN MOMENTS,” a sports NFT marketplace. In the future, the company aims to develop the wallet service “MIXI M” to implement NFT management functions, and is also considering a system that can handle crypto assets in the future.
In April 2023, the company will participate as a validator in Oasys, a blockchain specialized for games, in order to utilize its know-how in the field of blockchain games as well, having developed the hit title “Monster Strike,” which led mobile games to mass adoption.
As a company with expertise in both communication and games, the company will consider expanding the gaming economic sphere, including the possibility of GameFi.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
The company is expected to apply the know-how that made Monsto a smash hit to the blockchain game domain as well.
Category: Service industry
Opened “CoinTrade,” a crypto asset sales exchange.
Early entrant into the Web 3.0 business, including entry into the blockchain game market and decentralized data center business for businesses
Ceres has been focusing on the Web 3.0 domain from early on, and has made early entries into the crypto asset and blockchain game markets. In addition, the company is developing new businesses in the blockchain field, including a decentralized data center business and NFT-related businesses that are expected to develop further in the future.
In the crypto asset area, the company owns the domestic crypto asset exchange bitbank with MIXI as an equity-method affiliate, and is developing services through CoinTrade, which is operated by Mercury, a consolidated subsidiary.
CoinTrade launched a crypto asset staking service called CoinTrade Stake in July 2022, and since the beginning of 2023 has announced a series of new stocks, including Hedera (HBAR), Avalanche (AVAX), and Near Protocol (NEAR), (AVAX), and Near Protocol (NEAR).
CoinTrade has become the first crypto exchange in Japan to support these stocks in its staking service. CoinTrade may continue to be in demand for staking and other long-term crypto asset investments.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
Based on the performance of the blockchain gaming domain, the company is expected to further promote its crypto asset business, which it has been strengthening
Category: Service industry
Participated in the “Answer to Earn” verification experiment of “PlayMining
Will “Answer to Earn,” a new advertising service that combines the data of 7 million members of “Rakuraku Contact Network,” create a new advertising model?
In January 2023, Iore concluded a strategic partnership with Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), which operates the GameFi platform “PlayMining” and issues the DEAPcoin (DEP) crypto asset, to jointly promote Web 3.0 business. The partnership was formed to provide marketing support for PlayMining and NFT games by utilizing the data of more than 7 million members held by Iore's “Rakuraku Contact Network”.
In May of the same year, the two companies decided to participate in a demonstration experiment of “Answer to Earn,” which is planned and developed as a new content for PlayMining.
Answer to Earn is a new advertising service that allows users to “answer questions from companies and earn crypto assets and NFTs while having fun,” even if they have no knowledge of Web 3.0 such as blockchain or wallets. Iore plans to cooperate in the development of the service as the first Answer to Earn partner in the fall of 2023.
In the future, this initiative will be developed not only for registered users of PlayMining, but also for a wide range of users by collaborating with various companies that have a customer base.
▶▶︎Future Outlook
Currently supported by the strong performance of job search engines, but may rise further depending on the operation of “Answer to Earn
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