January 11, 2024
By Anjali Kochhar
By June of this year, Mercari, a digital flea market platform in Japan with over 22 million monthly active users, plans to enable customers to buy goods with Bitcoin, according to Nikkei.
Bitcoin payments will be handled by Mercoin, the company’s blockchain subsidiary, with headquarters in Tokyo. According to the article, customers of Mercari would be able to make payments using the largest cryptocurrency in the world based on market capitalization, even though prices would still be presented in Japanese yen.
To transfer Bitcoin to the seller in yen, Mercoin intends to operate as a middleman and charge transaction fees that are comparable to those associated with the sale of fiat money. It is yet unknown if consumers will have to pay the same rates.
According to the company’s website, Mercari opened its bitcoin exchange in March 2023 and lets customers buy bitcoin through the app with money from their bank accounts, sales revenues, and free points they get from selling things on the platform.
In the third quarter of 2023, Mercari, which was established in 2013, made 2.8 billion yen ($19.4 million) in profit, as opposed to 555 million yen during the same time the year before, as per its most recent earnings report. During that same period, the company’s revenue increased by 11.2% on an annual basis to 44.27 billion yen.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
