"Web3 Christmas Party" to close out 2024: Iolite gives a thorough report on OKJ's annual event!

Akasaka Prince Classic House is one of the most famous Western-style buildings in Tokyo and is also designated as a tangible cultural property by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. On December 23rd, the "Web3 Christmas Party" was held in this majestic building.

This event is an annual event held by domestic cryptocurrency (virtual currency) exchange OKJ every year during the year-end party season, and was held together with hardware wallet company Tangem and cryptocurrency media company CryptoTimes. PlayMining (DEAPcoin), Kaia, and NEO were also listed as co-hosts.

This year was another turbulent year for the Web3.0 industry. As 2024 finally comes to an end, the Iolite editorial team will report on the highly successful event, focusing on the project sessions.

The event started with a greeting from Masateru Saito of OKCoin Japan, which operates OKJ, an introduction to each project that participated in the event, and a look back at 2024.

The year 2024 saw a variety of events that affected the cryptocurrency market, starting with the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States in January, the Bitcoin halving, and the reelection of Trump in the US presidential election.

In addition, OKJ also underwent major changes, such as rebranding from OKCoinJapan in August. This year, OKJ has focused on providing services that users want, such as handling stocks that are being listed in Japan for the first time and strengthening its savings service. He emphasized that next year, too, they will continue to contribute to the development of the industry by providing various services from the user's perspective.

Next, a session was held by the projects that participated in the event.

The first speaker was Arata Arai, CEO of Rokubunnoni, Inc., the company that runs CryptoTimes, a cryptocurrency and blockchain media for Japan. Rokubunnoni runs CryptoTimes, which has been providing specialized information on cryptocurrency and blockchain since 2018, as well as CT Analysis, which provides specialized reports for general users and businesses. Rokubunnoni also runs the Discord Web3.0 community "boarding bridge," which has about 35,000 members, and CryptoLoungeGOX, a lounge space for the purpose of exchanging information and communicating about cryptocurrency.

Rokubunnoni has gained support from many Web3.0 users through the provision of various services, and on the 18th of this month, they released a new product. It is called "Candy Drops," and is based on the concept of "learning and earning cryptocurrency."

Candy Drops will provide information on various cryptocurrency projects, but will initially focus on disseminating information about airdrops.

Looking back on 2024, Arata said, "It was the year that airdrops became popular," but noted that it would be difficult for beginners to participate. He said that while there isn't much information available in Japanese, they decided to provide the service in response to feedback from users.

Candy Drops has a "campaign feature" that links with companies and projects, and you can participate in campaigns by using points that you have accumulated by completing daily tasks. In the future, the company plans to develop campaigns in collaboration with various projects both in Japan and overseas.

Regarding Kaia, which will participate as a co-host, Honda Hiromasa, CEO of Encrypto LLC and manager of the consulting division of Rokubunnoni, Inc., also from Crypto Times, gave a session.

Kaia is a layer 1 blockchain that was integrated with Finschia and Klaytn, and its mainnet was released in August. Finschia was originally known as LINE Blockchain, and is a blockchain developed by LINE that is widely used in Japan. Klaytn is a blockchain developed by Kakao, which has a large number of users, mainly in Korea.

Given the scale of users that both companies have, there are high expectations for it as the largest Web 3.0 ecosystem in Asia. According to Honda, the consulting division of CryptoTimes has been in charge of marketing Kaia to the Japanese market since September this year, and this initiative will continue until January next year.

In this session, Kaia's TVL and efforts regarding "Kaia Portal" to increase new users, and the Web 3.0 developer support program "Kaia Wave" were discussed.

LINE plans to release a mini-Dapp (decentralized application) based on LINE Messenger and a Dapp portal called "Dapp PORTAL" in the first quarter of 2025. Thirty projects to be released as mini-Dapps were recently announced, and these were the final selections made through Kaia Wave. These mini-Dapps include powerful IPs such as "Captain Tsubasa," and are expected to attract a lot of attention.

Honda commented, "Until now, entering the Web 3.0 field has been a very difficult hurdle for developers, with various barriers to entry. However, with the launch of Kaia, an environment is being created in which Web 2.0 development companies can smoothly onboard into the Web 3.0 field. In particular, Japanese development companies are attracting attention and great expectations from many infrastructure projects, including Kaia and Aptos." He also concluded by saying, "Crypto Times has supported Japanese projects such as INTMAX and has worked to help them develop. While the overall cryptocurrency market environment is often affected, now is a great time to get involved. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity and consider launching various products on Kaia through the Kaia Wave support program."

From Tangem, which is hosting this event alongside OKJ and CryptoTimes, Artificer mami☆, community manager Japan & assistant manager, took the stage under the supervision of APAC BD Asia-Pacific Partnership manager Dasha Jan.

Tangem is a wallet company founded in 2017 that has provided over 2 million wallets since 2018. Equipped with the highest security chip certified by EAL6+, its card-type and ring-type cold wallets have gained high support from many users for both design and security.

According to mami☆, the penetration rate of crypto assets in 2024 will be approximately 6.8%, or 560 million people in terms of population. While crypto assets will become popular in various regions, he points out that security will be an issue in the future.

He cites the lack of penetration of hardware wallets as a particular concern. He lists the reasons for this as being high hurdles for beginners and high costs. He also continues by saying that the balance between convenience and security is also a major point.

To solve these problems, he said, it is important to have a simple and easy-to-use design. By reducing the factors that people perceive as hurdles, such as setting seed phrases, the need to charge some products, and the risk of losing them when carried around, the penetration rate of hardware wallets will increase, and security will also improve. Tangem is confident that its wallet addresses these issues.

First, Tangem's wallet is used in conjunction with an app via NFC (near-field communication). This means that, unlike conventional hardware wallets, the wallet itself does not need to be charged. In addition, it takes only three minutes to set up and back up the wallet, and there is no need to manage seed phrases, which can be cumbersome, so it is easy to use even for beginners, he said. He also explained that the app allows users to follow official information on staking and projects, allowing them to carry out a wide range of Web 3.0-related activities in one stop.

In addition, Tangem is currently working with Visa to develop a payment service called "Tangem Pay" in order to incorporate cryptocurrencies into everyday life. Tangem Pay plans to support a variety of cryptocurrencies as well as stable coins and fiat currencies, facilitating cryptocurrency payments in everyday life. The company says it plans to launch its official service in 2025.

For inquiries about Tangem, please contact the person in charge directly by clicking the QR code X below. If you have any questions, please contact us using the form below.

▶︎ https://x.com/tangem_japan

▶︎ https://x.com/dashajan__

Next on stage was DEA (Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd.) COO Shinya Kiryu, who looked back on the company's efforts over the past year.

DEA's stance for 2024 is "Web3, which is useful to the world and improves society" and "Release products properly," and reported that they have achieved various results and demonstrated results with the social contribution game "PicTree" and the remote garbage sorting game "Eco Catcher Battle." They said they will continue to aim to provide products that contribute to society, and enthusiastically stated, "2025 will be a year of further growth."

The last speaker was Da Hongfei, founder of NEO. Although he was unable to attend the event in person, he sent a video letter for the event.

Hongfei mentioned NEO's activities in Japan in 2024, including a side event at WebX2024, Asia's largest Web 3.0 conference, held in the summer, and commented on the enthusiasm of the Japanese community. He also stated that the company will continue to place importance on the Japanese market.

So far, I have touched on the content of the sessions at the Web3 Christmas Party.

After each project session, there was time for networking. There was lively interaction between participants, and the venue was filled with excitement. There were also some very positive conversations that could be heard from time to time, which made me feel that the very favorable market trends of cryptocurrencies this year had a strong influence.

The prize draw held after the networking session was also a big hit, with everyone excitedly receiving their prizes. Prizes included Nintendo Switches, Amazon gift certificates, Tangem wallets, and OKJ x CryptoTimes collaboration sweatshirts.

The event was lively from start to finish, and ended with great success. It was a lively event that reflected the cryptocurrency craze of 2024.

No one knows what the future holds. However, I hope that the industry will be full of energy in 2025, and that OKJ will be able to hold its annual event on a grand scale again. It was a moment when I truly felt that way.