Mercari: Japan's largest second-hand e-commerce begins accepting Bitcoin payments, with active users reaching 22 million

According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, second-hand transaction e-commerce platform Mercari plans to begin accepting Bitcoin payments in June this year. To process Bitcoin payments, Mercari’s subsidiary Melcoin will handle related services and convert all Bitcoin payments into Japanese yen. This means that buyers can choose to pay in Bitcoin, but sellers will ultimately receive fiat currency.

On the Mercari platform, the pricing of goods is calculated in Japanese yen, not in Bitcoin. However, users can choose to use Bitcoin as a payment method during checkout.

Japan’s largest second-hand transaction e-commerce platform

Mercari was established in 2013 and is Japan’s largest second-hand transaction e-commerce platform. In 2018, the company was listed on the GEM of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and raised more than 110 billion yen, setting the largest IPO case in Japan that year.

According to Cryptonews, Mercari’s number of monthly active users has reached 22 million as of July 2023, and the company is actively working to expand its business in overseas regions such as Europe. In recent months, Mercari has launched a series of cryptocurrency-related products, including the Mercari Bitcoin cryptocurrency trading service. The service allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin using proceeds from sales made on the platform. This move further demonstrates Mercari’s active participation and exploration in the cryptocurrency market.

The Mercari Bitcoin platform also features a loyalty points system connected to its cryptocurrency trading arm. This means Mercari users can redeem their points for Bitcoin. Just seven months after its launch, the number of users of the Mercari Bitcoin platform exceeded 1 million as of October last year.

In June last year, Mercari said that about 80% of its cryptocurrency users had no previous experience in cryptocurrency trading.

Japanese e-commerce becomes a new channel for users to adopt Bitcoin

It is worth noting that Japanese e-commerce platforms have become a new way for Japanese users to use Bitcoin. In fact, Rakuten is a Japanese e-commerce giant that entered the cryptocurrency field long before Mercari.

Rakuten has launched its Rakuten Wallet cryptocurrency trading service and integrated its loyalty points program with its cryptocurrency arm. This move allows users to exchange points for cryptocurrency. According to a survey last month, people who have traded cryptocurrencies in Japan have overwhelmingly chosen Mercari’s Bitcoin trading app (24.7%) or Rakuten Wallet platform (24.2%) since the end of 2022.

This is a big blow to bitFlyer, Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, because the proportion of Japanese people using bitFlyer’s cryptocurrency trading services is only 11.3%, ranking third after the two major e-commerce platforms.

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