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