Blockchain and the Rise of Borderless Currency with Rakuten

Pete Prestipino
by Pete Prestipino 16 Jan, 2023
Blockchain and the Rise of Borderless Currency with Rakuten

There's more to the blockchain than cryptocurrency. 

Rakuten has announced its plans to introduce a blockchain-based loyalty system (based on its acquisition in early 2015 of integrated bitcoin wallet service Bitnet Technologies) that will take existing the Rakuten Points offering, turn those loyalty points into a cryptocurrency all its own called Rakuten Coin. 

Rakuten Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi "Mickey" Mikitani announced the development of the blockchain-based loyalty system and cryptocurrency while on stage at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona.

The new development is being positioned as a "borderless currency" that could be transferred and used anywhere Rakuten customers access the service.

The current loyalty system, Rakuten Super Points, has awarded more than 1 trillion Super Points to users since the program's launch 15 years ago, totaling $9.1 billion.
Pete Prestipino
Pete Prestipino
Digital marketing executive with proven experience in all aspects of search engine optimization (SEO), performance-based advertising, consumer-generated/social media, email marketing, lead generation, Web design, usability, and analytics. - 20-year Internet marketing veteran, currently serving as the Digital Marketing Campaign Manager at Antenna Group (formerly Chicago Digital). - Former Editor-In-Chief of Website Magazine, and a regular speaker on Web technology digital marketing strategy - Author of several books on digital marketing Including Web 360: The Fundamentals of Web Success; Affiliate 360: The Fundamentals of Performance Marketing; Domains 360: The Fundamentals of Buying & Selling Domain Names, and SEO 360: The Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization.