Politiciansmakingbigcryptopromises—DonaldTrumpandYuichiroTamaki—aretrendinginJapanastheeconomystrugglesandholdersofcryptocurrencyaretaxedwithoutmercy.Belowthecacophonyofelectionhubbub,however,afreshmovementofpeer-to-peer(P2P)adoptionandusagehasbeguninAsia,basedonbitcoincash.
InatweetpostedonHalloween(JST),Japan’sself-regulatoryandstate-certifiedcryptoassetgroupknownastheJVCEAdeliveredarequestforcryptotaxreformtoYuichiroTamaki,leaderoftheDemocraticPartyforthePeople(DPP).
“AstherepresentativedirectoroftheJVCEA,acertifiedself-regulatoryorganizationforcryptoassets,IdeliveredarequestfortaxreformregardingcryptoassetstoMr.Tamaki,theleaderoftheDemocraticPartyforthePeople,today,”GenkiOda’sposttosocialmediasiteXstated.
TheJVCEA’sOdalamented:“InApril2017,over50%oftheworld’sbitcointransactionswereinJapaneseyen.Thishasnowfallentoaround1%,”indicatingaharshenvironmentforcryptoenthusiastsinthecountry.
GenkiOda,representativedirectoroftheJapanVirtualandCryptoassetsExchangeAssociation(JVCEA).
TamakiandTrumpcausecryptosocialmediabuzz
YuichiroTamakihasstirredthingsupbeforewhenitcomestomakingpledgesaboutcryptotaxreforminthecountry,whereholderscanbetaxedupto55%ontheirgainsinthemostextremecases.ThememberoftheJapaneseHouseofRepresentativesposteda4-pointcryptopledgetoXonOct.20,requestingvotesforhisparty.
Tamakimentionedaseparate20%taxforcrypto,NFTusageingovernment,andthedigitizationoftheyen,raisingalarmbellsinsomeaboutthepotentiallydestructiveforceofacentralbankdigitalcurrency.
Acrossthepond,thepolarizedpoliticalatmosphereintheU.S.appearstobedrivingRepublicanpresidentialhopefulDonaldTrumptomakeboldclaimsaboutbitcoin’sfuturebeing“MADEINTHEUSA!VOTETRUMP!”
TheformerDemocrat(whoneverlockedupHillaryClintonashepromisedinhisfirstelection,andinfact,showeredherwithhighpraiseimmediatelyafterhewon)willhopefullyatleastfollowthroughonstatedplanstofreeSilkRoadmarketplacecreatorRossUlbricht.
Thosewhoknowhowpoliticsinevitablyworks,however,havelittlechoicebuttohopeforaluckybureaucraticfluke,moreorless,soRossmightactuallygethislifeback.JapaneseusersofsocialmediaaresimilarlyhopingforamiraclewhenitcomestoTamakiandTrump,butintheircase,it’sforthesamesystemthatcruellyimprisonedUlbrichttograntcryptotaxbreaks.
InadditiontorecentattentiongivenfromthefounderandCEOofleadingJapaneseexchangeBitflyer,YuzoKano,everydayXusersinthelandoftherisingsunarealsoreactingtoTrump’sblusterybitcoinbravadoin2024.
“Shouldn’ttheJapanesegovernmentalsobebuyingupBitcoin?”tweetedoneaccountinresponsetoTrump’sbitcoinpromises.
Butcryptowasneveraboutdependingonpoliticalwind-blowing.Infact,ifthemessageencodedinthebitcoingenesisblockistoreallymeananything,bitcoinhasalwaysbeenaboutjusttheopposite:usewithoutthepermissionofbanksandcorruptgovernments.
IfthereistobeacryptosolutionfortheeconomicstruggleJapaniscurrentlyexperiencing,itmustbefoundpeer-to-peer.
Paytacawallet’smapofbusinessesinPhilippines,HongKong,andTaiwanacceptingbitcoincash.
P2PcryptousageadvancesinAsia
Withtheadventofdecentralized,permissionless,andnon-custodialtradingandhedgingplatformssuchasBCHBull,basedontheAnyHedgeprotocol,andUTXO(unspenttransactionoutput)-basedsmartcontractsnowbeingenabledonchainonBCH,theoft-mockedforkofBTCcontinuesmakinginroadstowardadoptionwithoutneedingtopraytosketchypoliticians.
WalletcreatorssuchasPaytacaarebombardingbrick-and-mortarbusinessesatahighrateinthePhilippinesandelsewhereintheregionbyfocusingonquicktransactionsandpracticality.
Lefttoright:AaronAlmadro,CindyWang,andJoemarTaganna.
PaytacaCEOJoemarTagannatoldCryptopolitan:“IbelievethekeytodrivingcryptoadoptioninthePhilippines—andAsiamorebroadly—istomakeitpracticalandadvantageousforeverydaypayments,surpassingtheutilityoffiatcurrencies.”Henotedthat“Thisrequiresenablingdirect,peer-to-peercryptotransactionsratherthanmerelyembeddingcryptowithinintermediatedfiatpaymentsystems.”
Tagannabelievesanewbreedofcryptocompaniesshould“capitalizeoncostsavings,leveragingtheefficienciesofdirectpeer-to-peerpaymentstocreatesustainablemargins.”
Statistically,transactionsarealsogrowinginrecentyearswiththeintroductionofsmartcontracts,NFTtradingonchain,andlocaladoptionsuchascanbeseeninPhilippines.
Ofcourse,therearemanyothercryptoassetsthatcanstillbeusedP2Ptoprotectoneselffromfinancialabuse,andBCHisjustoneoftheseoptions,noneofwhicharewithouttheirdetractors.
However,focusingonuncensorablemoneyandtrulypermissionlessnetworksasTagannaandothersintheregionaredoing,caneventuallymakeitsothatnomatterwhichpoliticalclownisvyingforpower,thefreemarketcanstilltransact,choosingprojects,people,andsystemsforsocialgovernancetosupportandvaluevoluntarily,andnotbyforcedelections.
cryptopolitan.com