Japan's Finance Minister Says Bitcoin Isn't Credible as a Currency for the Moment

The Finance Minister of Japan talked about bitcoin during an interview with Reuters. Bitcoin had quite a good year in Japan in 2017, but it seems that the official is not a bitcoin believer. The Finance Minister actually said that bitcoin is not e credible currency for the moment.

Taro Aso, Japan's Finance Minister, said that the digital currency has to show that it can be a credible currency in the society. Aso also said that the ministry and he personally will watch the progress of bitcoin in the future. The Finance Minister also addressed the topic of whether bitcoin is a currency or not.

“There’s no fixed definition on whether it’s a currency or not. This issue is a difficult one…It has not yet been proven to be credible enough to become a currency, so I need to watch [bitcoin] for a little while more.”

— https://www.reuters.com/article/us-markets-bitcoin-japan-finmin/bitcoin-not-yet-proven-as-credible-currency-japan-finance-minister-idUSKBN1ED068

Japan recognized bitcoin as a form of payment

The fact that the Finance Minister made such a statement regarding bitcoin is quite curious considering that the cryptocurrency was previously accepted and recognized as a form of payment in Japan. There are several companies in Japan that currently accept bitcoin payments. They include an airline, several retailers and also some car dealerships.

In fact, recently a large used cars dealership announced that it will accept bitcoin payments at several of its locations in Japan. Things got even further when it comes to recognizing bitcoin as a form of payment, as actually a local city government also made a step on that direction and started to accept bitcoin donations aimed to help the preservation of a historic natural park.

Japan still behind China and South Korea when it comes to digital payments

Although Japan has shown openness when it comes to cryptocurrency payments, the country still does not top the list of states that adopted digital currencies. China and South Korea have done more on this front than Japan, as there a higher percentage of the society has integrated cryptocurrency payments.