Mercari to Give Away Bitcoin: Japanese Adoption Rising?

Japanese e-commerce heavyweight Mercari has announced a groundbreaking promotional drive. The company will give away Bitcoin (BTC) as part of its latest campaign. This initiative is spearheaded by its crypto subsidiary, Mercoin.

Mercoin issued a press release detailing the launch of an " invitation campaign" for its Bitcoin trading service. This campaign will run until July 31. It incentivizes Mercari users to bring other people to the platform. Both parties—sending invitations and recipients—will receive 200 yen (around $0.12) worth of Bitcoin for each new user they invite.

Unlimited Invitations and Special Signup Codes

The firm emphasized that there is "no limit to the number of people" that users can invite during the campaign period.

Additionally, people can receive 200 yen worth of Bitcoin by using a unique signup code. To promote the launch of its BTC services, the company released a commercial featuring top celebrities like former pro wrestler Riki Choshu and actress and singer Haruka Shimazaki.

Mercari is relatively new to the Japanese crypto exchange sector. However, it has seen phenomenal success since venturing into BTC and crypto.

Japan's CoinPost reported that its crypto trading service boasts the highest number of new cryptocurrency users in the industry, with over 2.2 million users as of May 30.

Moreover, data from the Japan Virtual and Cryptoassets Exchange Association indicates that 61.5% of the total number of new crypto wallets opened from the end of March 2023 to the end of March 2024 were launched on Mercari's platform.

Integrating Bitcoin with E-commerce

Mercari unveiled its Bitcoin trading service features in March 2023. This year, the company has focused on integrating these features with its core "online flea market" business. In February, the firm rolled out a feature that allows customers to use their Bitcoin holdings to buy goods on the Mercari platform.

E-commerce Firm Also Offers ETH Trading

In addition to Bitcoin, Mercari has launched similar features for Ethereum (ETH). In May, the company introduced a service that allows customers to swap their loyalty points for Ethereum tokens. Vendors on the platform can also opt to receive ETH instead of fiat currency when completing a sale.

Mercoin commented on the significant increase in new crypto wallets, attributing it to the expansion of a customer base that had not previously been exposed to cryptocurrencies. "This campaign will help us further expand the number of new Bitcoin traders," Mercoin added.