Today it was revealed that Blockstream has entered a new joint venture, Crypto Garage, with Japanese fintech industry heavyweights Digital Garage and Tokyo Tanshi. As part of the joint venture, Crypto Garage will soon launch SETTLENET, a suite of products based on the Liquid Network that will enhance trading efficiency and security for participants in the Japanese Bitcoin market.
The first application to launch on SETTLENET will be a Japanese yen stablecoin (“JPY-Token”) which can be traded for Bitcoin pegged to the Liquid sidechain (L-BTC) using atomic swaps. This will provide participating exchanges and trading desks in Japan with a rapid, secure, and private platform for completing their transactions while significantly minimizing counterparty risk.
“We’re very excited to see the continued growth of the Liquid Network ecosystem and expect SETTLENET’s Japanese yen token to be the first of many stablecoin issuances on Liquid.” said Samson Mow, CSO of Blockstream. “For serious cryptofinance applications that require secure and reliable blockchain technology, Liquid is the only real option.”
SETTLENET has received the highest levels of clearance to operate in one of Japan’s regulatory sandboxes, with approvals from both the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) as well as the Cabinet Secretariat. As such, the Liquid-based JPY-Token is positioned to become one of the key drivers of Bitcoin liquidity in the Japanese market.
“Exchanges and OTC trading desks have been waiting for a solution like this,” said Masahito Okuma, CEO of Crypto Garage. “SETTLENET together with Liquid makes trustless Bitcoin trading a reality, in a sustainable regulated environment. This is going to lead to a huge boost in Bitcoin liquidity in Japan and cement the region’s place as a leader in the emerging Bitcoin industry.”
In addition to the joint venture deal, Blockstream received an additional $10 million investment from Digital Garage. This investment will provide additional resources to ramp up development on multiple products–such as the Liquid Network, the Cryptocurrency Data Feed, and new product lines–accelerating Blockstream’s work on building key infrastructure for the future Bitcoin economy.
About Blockstream
Blockstream is the global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain infrastructure. Blockstream’s sidechain technology (Liquid Network) enables faster Bitcoin settlements, while empowering financial institutions to tokenize assets. The Cryptocurrency Data Feed, developed in partnership with Intercontinental Exchange, delivers best-in-class real-time and historical exchange data. Blockstream’s GreenAddress is the world’s most advanced consumer Bitcoin wallet. Blockstream was founded in 2014, with offices and team members distributed around the world.
About Crypto Garage
Crypto Garage (HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director: Masahito Okuma) is a fintech joint venture of Digital Garage (TSE first section: 4819; HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi), The Tokyo Tanshi Co., Ltd. (HQ: Tokyo; President: Shoji Ushiro), and Blockstream Corp (HQ: Victoria, Canada; CEO: Adam Back), engaged in R&D and commercialization of blockchain financial services. https://cryptogarage.co.jp/en/
About the Liquid Network
The Liquid Network is an inter-exchange settlement network connecting cryptocurrency exchanges, market makers, brokers, and other financial institutions around the world. Liquid enables rapid, confidential, secure transfers of bitcoin between members of the network, while bringing these features to a wide range of assets in the form of Issued Assets. The network is operated and managed by its federated members, ensuring the system has no single point of failure. Learn how to get access to the future of digital asset finance at: https://blockstream.com/liquid/
SOURCE Blockstream
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