Blockchain Advocates in Japan and South Korea Are Joining Forces

Two blockchain advocacy groups from Japan and South Korea are combining their efforts in a bid to advocate for wider use of the technology.

According to the translated announcement, the Korean Blockchain Open Forum (KBOF) and Blockchain Collaborative Consortium (BCCC) of Japan have been in collaborative talks since November. A formal agreement between the two groups was signed during the Blockchain TechBiz Conference, which took place on Dec. 19 in Seoul.

As BCCC noted:

"In the future, we will deepen our cooperation in both events and group activities, and we will share our knowledge accumulated by each group with each other."

According to the group, over 200 companies have joined the consortium since it launched. BCCC announced in December last year that it had grown its membership to more than 100 companies including Microsoft Japan, Mitsui Sumotomo Insurance, PwC, Bitbank and ConsenSys, among others.

Similarly, the KBOF said in the announcement that the forum has 157 organizations drawn blockchain startups, IT firms, government agencies, academic institutions, and local municipal offices.

The timing comes as regulators in one of the host countries, South Korea, moves to expand regulation around cryptocurrencies, though officials there have also said that they want to avoid creating new burdens for firms working on non-financial applications of blockchain.

As reported previously, following a ban on initial coin offerings in the country, the South Korean government is now also weighing methods to curb speculation around cryptocurrencies.

Editor's Note: Some of the statements in this report have been translated from Japanese.

Japan and South Korea flag image via Shutterstock