Japan is losing its place as the world’s gaming capital because of crypto hostility

A marked hostility toward new and emerging Web3 technologies like cryptocurrencies runs the risk of costing Japan its place as the world’s gaming capital. We’re getting dangerously close to the point of no return, and here’s why. 

Nobody can be sure where the country’s antagonism to crypto originated or why it still persists even after the nonfungible token (NFT) and crypto “boom” of 2021, which took off in a major global way and prompted officials in the United States and Europe to backtrack on their initial antipathy for the space, finally opening up to regulations. The White House just released its first crypto regulatory framework in September 2022, and the European Parliament Committee followed up in October 2022 by approving the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, also known as MiCA, with a landslide vote. As the first European crypto policy, the much-discussed MiCA text represents revolutionary progress in the direction of what many consider the future of the financial world.

Japan, however, has a very different stance.

We all know Japan is home to gaming giants like Nintendo and Sega and has been for decades, with triumphs such as Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Sega Mega Drive and the Game Boy. But, in order to remain at the top of its game (pun absolutely intended), the sector needs to be able to consistently and rapidly change with the times, not stay stuck where it was when it first gained recognition. Gaming is a highly creative space and has always had the technology to back its extraordinary potential. But, in order to do so, it does need to be able to stay up to speed with new and evolving innovations, or it will become stagnant and lethargic.

Related: GameFi developers could be facing big fines and hard time

GameFi is an emerging area of interest in the industry with immense potential. But, when you look more closely, there are very few Japanese companies developing the GameFi sector into what it is sure to become within a few years to a decade. And if that doesn’t change soon, the entire industry will be at risk.

The crypto and tech worlds are two of the main stages of exciting and rapidly evolving progress happening in the modern age, and in Japan, they’re being held hostage by crucial elements like taxation and a complicated screening process.

In Japan, there is no ground to account for crypto assets properly, and none of the auditors want to audit crypto assets. Due to strict listing rules drawn up by the…