March 22 saw attendees from Asia-Pacific’s two leading Bitcoin communities converge at the Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup in Japan’s capital city. BitKan, a popular trading service and app based in China was the organizer of the event, with local support from Japan-based bitcoin exchange BTCBox.
Nearly 100 people were in attendance, an unusual feat amid Tokyo’s robust online culture. Thought to be the biggest Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup event in recent years, it featured a full slate of speakers including:
- David Zhang, CEO of BTCBox on “Business Development and Future of BTCBox.”
- Jihan Wu, CEO of Bitmain on the “Global Bitcoin Ecosystem.”
- Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com on the “Importance of Bitcoin’s Economic Code.”
- Ruby Chen, marketing director of Bitkan on the “Booming Exchange Model in China.”
- Jon Southurst, Bitcoin reporter on “Bitcoin Trading and Business from a Global Media Perspective.”
This event, which also featured spirited networking opportunities and discussions among the attendees, comes as the global Bitcoin community closely watches the evolving landscape in both China and Japan.
Main event co-sponsor BitKan was founded in 2013 and has its headquarters in Shenzhen. The company, which features a popular Bitcoin app, owns the largest number of users within the industry in China. It also provides an over-the-counter (OTC) trading service, as well as price viewing, news reading, mining monitoring, price alert and e-wallet services. It offers a real time mining-monitoring system as well, which keeps users updated all the time.
The founding team at BitKan is made up of experienced former employees of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. The BitKan team is dedicated to providing the most professional and safest services to its users.
This meetup was BitKan’s first-ever appearance at a Japanese event. According to Sandy Liang, operations director for BitKan, the company elected to hold the event as a part of a developing global business effort that recognizes Japan as an important market. Liang noted that others in the Chinese Bitcoin community with an interest in Japanese markets attended, with the goal of cultivating cooperation between Chinese and Japanese companies.
“I think it's a chance for gaining a better understanding between the Chinese and Japanese markets,” Liang concluded. “We hope it will help in the future development of the Asian-Pacific region.”