On the 15th of February Japanese Investors teleported bitcoin's Yen Trading pair to new all-time highs weeks Before btcusd had even made it out of Bed and Bitcoin is not the only thing Ripping in Japan stock market indices Have been breaking alltime highs too but If that makes you think wow the economy Must be booming I'm afraid we've got bad News for you bad news that's because Japan recently slipped into recession And lost this title as the world's third Largest economy to Germany so what in Satoshi's name is going on over there And is it bullish or bearish for the Rest of us we went down a couple of Rabbit holes to look for answers and we Came up with a lot more than we had Bargained for so stay tuned this is a Deep dive you don't want to Miss now before we get lost in Japan's Crypto scene let's look around and get Our bearings what kind of Market are we Looking at and how did it get that way To answer those questions will need a Quick history lesson the left curve Summary goes something like this Japan Had been trapped in the year 2000s since The 1980s it's pretty silly but as a Shorthand for the recent history of Japan it's not entirely useless you see In the late 1980s Japan's economy was on A Monster Run Japan was getting richer Faster than any other Advanced economy
Tokyo's Stock Exchange over overt took New York as the world's biggest and by 1987 the four richest people in the World were all Japanese billionaires you Know the rest Japanese cars consumer Electronics and cartoons took the World By storm Generation X was captivated by The image of Tokyo as the neon Metropolis where it l like the Millennium had arrived early but not Everyone was such a big fan in the 1980s The Spectra of the up only Japanese Economy Had the United States sweating President Reagan had to beg Japan to voluntarily Limit its car exports after Japanese Automakers broke 25% dominance in the US Market and after raking in massive Dollar profits from selling stuff to Americans Japanese corporations went on An insane shopping spree they brought Out major US companies and landmarks Culminating with the sale of the Rockefeller building in downtown Manhattan to misubishi in 1989 the American Media lost it at that Point and declared an economic Pearl Harbor was underway books started to Appear with titles such as the Japanese Challenge and Japan as number one and The coming war with Japan Hollywood Protagonists started getting fired at The hands of powerful Japanese bosses Now if the words top signal come to mind
Then there is a gold star figure you Unfortunately for Japan it was sitting On a massively overinflated asset bubble That exploded upon contact with the 1990s and in hindsight the top signals Were deafening there were many but our Favorite was the story of the so-called Bubble Empress new on who became a Symbol of Japan's bull market Mania she Was a grandmotherly restaurant owner From Osaka who allegedly received Commandment from God to start investing And invest she did to build up her Capital anuka set out forging collateral Deposit receipts which she used to Obtain a total of 2.7 trillion yen in Loans from 50 of Japan's prestigious Financial institutions that's more than $21 billion in today's money she poured It into the stock market and as a result Became the largest shareholder of Several of the world's largest companies Including the industrial Bank of Japan At a time where Tokyo had the largest Stock Exchange in the world she was its Biggest individual player with a stock Portfolio that allegedly peaked at $7 Billion or about 16.5 billion in today's Money as Japan's biggest individual day Trader her indicator of choice wasn't The RSI nor was it the Ballinger bands But a ceramic toad in her restaurant That she used to Divine Market movements You know what they say every Toad's a
Genius in a bull market smash that like Button to show some love for the fancy Indicator and double check if you're Subscribed and have your bell Notifications on so you don't miss Another amphibian Alpha only on the coin [Music] Bureau get in [Music] Here take a seat Sir Go on so tell me about these anxieties You've been experiencing when did they First manifest themselves well you know I I think they first started when I got Into crypto I I started to worry about All kinds of stuff such as well I became Anxious that I was spending you know way Too much on Exchange fees like every Time I made a trade boom more precious Crypto gone and I I I I felt like I was Missing out in other ways what are the Ways well for instance why didn't I get A a a sign up bonus when I registered on An exchange I mean come on they they Should be welcoming me with open arms That's a common feeling for many people In crypto yeah go figure and I kept Getting told to buy a hardware wallet to Keep my crypto safe but you know some of Those things ain't cheap huh I what's That guy to do well you know there's a Cure for those concerns you mean Medication no I mean like the coin
Bureau deals page it is trade and fee Discounts on top crypto exchanges it Offers sign up bonuses of up to $50,000 and it has discounts on the best Hardware wallets too you mean I I just Go to the coin Bureau deals page and I'm Cured yeah absolutely just head down Using the link down below okay I'm on my [Music] Way now when Ona was arrested in 1991 Her lawyers claimed she knew nothing About investing and was financially Illiterate the judge didn't buy it and Onu was sentenced to 12 years in prison For fraud it's hard to imagine a more Perfect embodiment of the Mania phase of The market cycle than the onu affair we May not see an equivalent to the bubble Empress in crypto this cycle but there's Still a lesson here when the markets Start getting silly it's probably time To jump ship not Financial advice but Unfortunately for Japan it was too far Gone the ball looked like it was never Going to stop running and you know that Can only mean trouble when the bubble Burst it began a marathon bare Market That lasted well into the 21st century Japan is still one of the wealthiest Healthiest and most culturally Influential countries in the world but It has never again seen the kind of Growth let alone the excess that it Became famous for in the 1980s the era
Of stagnation that followed was Legendary at the turn of the '90s Japan Had some of the highest wages on the Planet but but in the next 30 Years real Wages Rose by just 3% in Japan compared To 50% in the United States and Britain Japan's L Decades of the '90s melted Into two and then three decades the Widely followed nikay stock index tanked In 1990 and spent the next 34 years Trailing sideways into Oblivion painting A nightmarish chart that had retail Investors spooked for good they took one Look at that thing and said Japanese Stocks bro I'm sorry I don't hate money Now in the rest of the world it's common For no coiners to hedge against Inflation by investing in equities but In a post-bubble Japan chronic deflation Meant that your best RR was a piggy bank We're not kidding by 2022 Japanese Households were sitting on a quadrillion Yen or 7.7 trillion dollar in cash Savings can you imagine the inflows if They had a spot Bitcoin ETF marketed at The old people of Japan that is what Dreams are made of anyway 35 years later The Nik index had finally made a new High the words new all-time high are Usually exhilarating but in this case it Just means the people that bought at the Top at 1989 aren't underwater anymore so We expect there to be mixed Feelings now it remains to be seen how
Japan's retail investors will behave Throughout the rest of the decade but With the economy falling into a Technical recession after two quarters Of negative growth it might be too early To say that stagnation is over for good And besides stagnation isn't just about Macroeconomics Japan is notoriously old Now with a median age of 49 a number That's programmed to only go up as the Population shrinks last year the number Of people who died in Japan was almost Twice the number of babies born causing The population to Fall by more than 830,000 we haven't seen too many elderly People on chain lately so if you ask us These are some bearish demographics and What about those Mighty Japanese Corporations you know the ones who had The Americans so nervous well they Haven't gone anywhere but perhaps that's Also part of the problem if we compare The top companies in the United States And Japan today you'll see what I mean Japan's top five companies by market cap Are Toyota Mitsubishi ufj Tokyo electron Cence and Sony the median age of these Companies is 78 and that's discounting The 19th century roots of Mitsubishi the Top five in the US are Microsoft Apple Nvidia Amazon and alphabet their median Age is 31 and look you don't need a Calculator to Spot the Difference here The Silicon Valley conveyor belt has
Been cranking out trillion doll Tech Giants for decades and it looks like Japan has had no answer it was the Country that started the global Revolution with money devices with Sony Wman and the Nintendo Game Boy but in The smartphone era Japanese companies Can't even compete at home last year Apple Samsung and Google cornered around 70% of the smartphone market in Japan And Japan's second biggest smartphone Manufacturer decided to throw in the Towel of course there is nothing wrong With different countries excelling in Different Industries Toyota is still the World's biggest automaker for example But it's interesting that a country Historically associated with high-tech Innovation seems to have been asleep at The wheel for the duration of both web 1 And web 2 eras but now Japan is hoping It will be Third Time Lucky after Snoozing its way through web 1 and web 2 The government has decided to roll the Dice on web 3 prime minister firmino Kashida made this clear in early 2023 he Described web 3 as the new capitalism And Nam dropped nfts and Dows as the Next Frontier for government's Long-running cool Japan PR campaign the PM wants Japan to be a leader in web 3 And it seems he really means business The ruling liberal Democratic party has A dedicated web 3 task force who have
Been dropping official white papers with Bullish subtit titles like towards an Era of mass adoption of digital Assets we love it if you thought that Was bullish just listen to the tone of Last year's web 3 white paper Japan is Positioned to advance towards a society Where tokens and wallets are accepted by The public perhaps first in the world Japan is in a position to Advocate with Confidence the immeasurable future of Web 3 to the world the head of the web 3 Task force is liberal Democratic Lawmaker masaki Tiara and he has been Shilling this white paper like his Career depends on it if he's to be Believed it's not just the Talk of the Town in Tokyo but in Silicon Valley too He says that Executives from Apple Microsoft Amazon and meta flew to Japan After reading the white paper and Brought and I quote a number of new Proposals along with them well we'll see If anything comes of that but it is Refreshing to see politicians trying to Pump our bags for once it's a jarring Contrast with the United States where The loudest voices on crypto talk like The whole thing is a scam and that the Public needs to be bubble wrapped away From think Gary gansler who had to be Dragged Kicking and Screaming by Larry Think into approving spot Bitcoin ETFs Years after Canada Europe and Brazil
Launched their own without making half Of the fuss about it and then there is Elizabeth Warren Washington's very own Crypto cop who wants to kyc you every Time you so much as think about checking Your portfolio meanwhile in Japan the Government is furiously drawing up plans To Shi nfts to the public if you want to See what they're cooking we suggest you Reading the English translation of the Web 3 white paper you can check it out Using the link in the description but Perhaps most encouraging in last year's White paper was the author's Receptiveness to criticism of the Government's own crypto regulations and I quote Japan which had once led the World's crypto industry up to the mid 2010s has become a country that is Avoided by entrepreneurs both Domestically and internationally Regulations were strengthened and the Crypto industry in the Japanese Market Lost its attraction many entrepreneurs And investors left Japan to seek Better Business environments we think this is a Good summary of the current environment For crypto to in Japan back in 2017 the Country was praised for its world first Attempt to regulate crypto without Suffocating the industry but that was 7 Years ago and the screws have been Tightened considerably since then Japan Has since maintained its crypto-friendly
Image but this is probably because the Yard stick that is the decidedly Unfriendly United States and it's Probably safe to replace friendly with Coherent here that's because while the US still has its knickers in a Twist Over which cryptos get to be Commodities And which are to be down to security D Japan has had a fairly straightforward Regulations for the best part of a Decade but let's face it that is a low Bar clearly a regulatory environment Where the rules of public knowledge is Better than one where they're treated Like a state secret scribbled on the Back of Gary's napkin the problem is Clear as may be Japan's rules have Become really tough for example much was Made of Japan's first world stable coin Regulations pass last year there's a lot To praise but at the same time the Regulations pose real challenges for Issuers the collateral for Yen Peg Stable coins has to be held in Japanese Financial institutions and can't be Invested anywhere this means they're Subject to Japanese interest rates which Are generally below 0.1% if not negative Good luck trying to make a business out Of that rates are better for US dollars But non-en stablecoin transactions on Exchanges will be subject to a 1 million Yen limit per transaction that's about $6,700 at the moment well we knew Japan
Had a certain reputation when it came to The treatment of Wales but this might be A step too far and that's to say nothing Of exchange listings a little over a Year ago Japan's virtual and crypto Assets exchange Association announced They would cut the sixth month screening Period for new coins to 30 days this is Encouraging but we're in the thick of a Bull market and the total number of Cryptos available on centralized Exchanges in Japan is still in the Double digits for reference let's Compare major International exchanges Binance has 373 cryptos listed K coin Has 770 and even the famously conservative Coinbase and Kraken have more than 230 Each but on bitflyer Japan's biggest Exchange we counted just 33 cryptos bitf Flyer's main competitors are bitbank Which has a whopping 38 cryptos listed And coin check where we were able to Check only 27 coins and to give you an Idea of the rate at which coins are Making it on to Japanese exchanges check Out bitfly latest listing on February The 29th 2024 introducing drum roll please Doge Hm shiny we couldn't even find Soul Listed anywhere maybe it's penel in next Cycle anyway you get the picture with Asset support stuck in 2013 it's like Japan's crypto regulations have been
Shooting for a lost decade of their own Let's do one more regulation leverage You want to get rich quick trade in Crypto Futures sure slide that leverage Bar right up to the legal maximum and See what it says 2x good luck getting Wrecked in Japan so whether you're a Stable coin issuer Futures Trader or Shitcoin connoisseur in Japan you've got An uphill battle against some of the Toughest crypto regulations in the world Now you'll recall the web3 white papers Claim that Japan led the world's crypto Industry up to the mid 2010s it's true Japan once had the biggest Bitcoin Industry in the world and as we Mentioned earlier it was the first Country in the world to take crypto Seriously enough to try and regulate it At a time where governments over the World were still amused by Bitcoin so How come Japan was so early to crypto Regulation and what happened to make Everything so much stricter in recent Years well you see in 2010's Japan also Led the world in getting wrecked on Centralized exchanges and we think That's got something to do with it if You don't know what we're talking about Then get the popcorn out because it's Quite a story the year is 2010 Bitcoin Is so novel and obscure that vitalic Butterin hasn't even heard of it yet he Is beaten to the chase by American
Entrepreneur and developer Jed maleb who Learns about Bitcoin on the tech news Site SL shot MB spots an opportunity and Decides to build a website where people Can buy and sell Bitcoin he has an old Domain lying around from an abandoned Digital card trading site named Magic The Gathering online exchange sure That'll do and so Mount ga's Bitcoin Exchange is born but barely a year later Maleb decides he has bigger fish to fry The fish in question turn out to be Ripple and Stellar which he goes on to Co-found wellplay Jed so in 2011 he Hands over the mount Go website to this French guy Mar Caple basically for free Now if you're thinking okay what's this Got to do with Japan well you see C Players moved to Tokyo in 2009 meaning That this Bitcoin exchange is now Headquartered there too and it's by this Coincidence of Fate that mount goau Would shape Japan's relationship with Crypto for years to come under New Management in Tokyo Mount GX grows Rapidly it becomes the go-to website for Nerds around the world to punt their Savings on a couple of hundred Bitcoins By 2013 it accounts for somewhere Between 70 and 90% of the world's BTC Traded volume depending on who you ask 2014 rolls around and mount Cox is Racing ahead at full speed when suddenly The wheels fall off in February the
Exchange exchange halt Bitcoin Withdrawals then suspends trading and Just goes offline entirely at the end of The month a bankruptcy filing in Tokyo Reveals what's happened and it's worse Than anyone imagined it wasn't even some Sophisticated rug rather shoddy code and Paper thin security meant that mount gox Had been leaking Bitcoin like a Civ Hackers were able to take customers BTC From hot wallets like candy from a baby In total car claims to have lost 850,000 Bitcoin worth around 56 billion today And accounting for 7% of Bitcoin circula Supply at the time so while Mount gax Was americanmade French Run and used by An unlucky Bitcoin OG's over the world It was the Japanese state that was left To clean up the mess The Regulators Scrambled to write rules to make sure Such a scandal could never happen again Again but again it did in January 2018 Just months after Japan's first Regulations came into effect coin Check Exchange was wrecked by another Blockbuster Heist hackers made off with More than $530 million of NCoin Triggering a classic B Khalifa Candlestick formation now we have to Give coin check credit for the way they Handled it within 2 months of the hack They made good on a promise to use up to 90% of the company comp's Capital to Reimburse customers ultimately paying
Out $435 million in cash it's not the Full amount that was lost but it's a Darite better than Mount GX whose Creditors started getting repaid in uh Let's see December 2023 anyway it was this series of Misfortunes that led Japan to put crypto In the straight jacket that it's trying To Riggle out of today and you know We're rooting for them to wle their way Out but it is a tough one isn't it when Times are good regulation can seem like Crypto's cryptonite but when the chips Are down and the Sexes are rugging a lot Of us will be quick to change our tune Just ask Japan's FTX customers whove Been able to recoup their assets for More than a year now at any rate you Already know what the moral of today's Story is not your keys or in plain English get yourself a proper Hardware Wallet from the coin Bureau deals page We've got the nicest prices in town And while you're at it you can find some Cracking discounts on some of the top Centralized exchanges out there Too and anyway that's all for today Folks we hoped you learned just as much As we did about Japan's colorful history With rugs regulations and amphibian Indicators if you did Smash the like Button to give this video a boost don't Forget to subscribe and Bell buttons so You can be early to new uploads and to
Everyone watching in Japan we know There's a lot lot of you let us know What you think in the comments as always Thank you for watching and I'll see you Next time mat [Music] Condo
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