Japanese e-commerce giant, Mercari, has announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin payments starting from June this year. The company will process Bitcoin payments through its crypto subsidiary, Melcoin, based in Tokyo. While buyers will be able to choose Bitcoin as a payment option, the payments will be converted into yen, meaning that sellers will receive fiat currency. Although prices will still be listed in yen, customers will have the option to use Bitcoin as a payment method when making purchases on the platform.
Mercari, founded in 2013, has become Japan’s largest community marketplace platform with 22 million monthly users as of July 2023. The company aims to expand its presence overseas, including in Europe. In recent months, Mercari has launched various crypto-related products, such as the Mercari Bitcoin crypto trading service. This service allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin using the proceeds from their sales on the platform. Additionally, Mercari’s loyalty points system is now integrated with its crypto trading arm, enabling users to exchange their points for Bitcoin.
Observers have referred to Mercari and a competing platform operated by Rakuten as new “gateways” for Bitcoin and crypto investors and traders. Rakuten, another leading Japanese e-commerce platform, has been active in the crypto space for even longer than Mercari. The company operates the Rakuten Wallet crypto trading service and has integrated its loyalty points program with its crypto arm. A recent survey revealed that individuals who started trading coins in Japan overwhelmingly chose either Mercari’s Bitcoin Trading app or Rakuten’s Rakuten Wallet platform. This preference for the e-commerce platforms has posed a challenge to traditional crypto exchanges, with bitFlyer, the market leader, ranking third in the survey.