The CEO of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings says he believes cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will trigger the next economic boom in Japan.
Yoshitaka Kitao made the remarks at this week’s Japanese Blockchain Conference in Tokyo, and said the change will happen in the next few years.
“We want to take blockchain beyond financial,” said Kitao, according to Forbes.
“There’s a lot of speculative demand around cryptocurrencies, which is why the price is going up so quickly, but people need to think about how these technologies are being used in real life and how they can improve people’s businesses.”
Earlier this month, SBI Holdings launched its cryptocurrency exchange VCTRADE. The platform is initially focusing on the trading of XRP.
The exchange launched with zero transaction fees, although it is expected to charge customers for withdrawals in yen in the near future.
VCTRADE also plans to add support for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in the coming months, although no official date for the launch of either coin has been given.
SBI Holdings is a longtime Ripple partner. It invested in Ripple back in 2016. The two companies jointly own and operate SBI Ripple Asia, which is designed to explore how Ripple’s blockchain can help facilitate cross-border transfers between banks.