Data from Coinhills shows that the Japanese yen has officially overtaken the US dollar in terms of Bitcoin trading all over the world.
Data shows that 490,925.45 BTC were traded against the JPY over the last 24 hours. Data also showed that 49.10 percent of Bitcoin transactions were conducted against the JPY compared to 45.80 percent traded against the US dollar.
Both currencies account for the lion’s share of BTC trading with a combined 94.9 percent. The Korean won the British pound and the Euro make up the rest of the top 5 currencies involved Bitcoin fiat trading. Bitcoin activity surrounding these currencies is almost insignificant, making up only 2 percent of transactions.
The JPY/BTC trading pair has grown in popularity over the last few months. In November the pair accounted for 21 percent of the BTC trading which is quite impressive though it still came behind USD/BTC which accounted for 50 percent of BTC trading.
So why is the Japanese yen threatening to overpower the US dollar in terms of Bitcoin trading?
As was reported by crypto-publication, Bitcoinist, in December, Asia has more of an impact on Bitcoin price compared to America and Europe. The report cited a study that highlighted major developments from Asia concerning cryptos, which has impacted the market by an average of 18.61 percent.
Despite the crypto winter that has seen a lot of miners shut shop in Asia, the East still has a major say in what happens in the crypto world. The East is indeed moving fast with Japan’s largest crypto-exchange, Coincheck, registering with the financial services agency.
Further news from the east reveal a new partnership between Blockstream, digital garage, and Tokyo Tanshi; which will serve the Japanese Bitcoin market by launching a JPY-pegged stablecoin. October 2018 also saw japan give approval for the crypto industry to regulate itself thereby boosting the capabilities of the japan virtual currency exchange association (JVCEA). The JVCEA now has the authority to punish operators who fail to comply with the stringent safety regulations put in place by local authorities.
The JPY dominating the USD in BTC trading is not surprising at all, seeing as Asia largely drives the virtual currency world. Other Asian currencies such as the Korean won even getting close to the Japanese Yen is highly unlikely though. So I predict a healthy tug of war between JPY/BTC and USD/BTC in BTC trading.
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