Animoka Japan, RootstockClubs partner to bring Bitcoin DeFi to corporates
Animoka Brands Japan has partnered with RootstockLabs to introduce Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi) tools to Japanese corporations and institutions.
The partnership aims to deploy Rootstock's institutional program to the Japanese market, enabling companies to manage Bitcoin (BTC) as part of their corporate treasury strategy with access to onchain financial instruments secured by Bitcoin's Proof of Work (PoW), according to a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
“More and more companies in Japan are starting to use cryptocurrencies as part of their financial and treasury strategies,” said Kensuke Amo, CEO of Animoka Brands Japan. “Through this partnership, Animoka Brands Japan and RootstockClubs support the adoption of corporations in a manner that respects Japan's regulatory environment.”
Rootstock is a Bitcoin sidechain secured by mixed mining with the majority of Bitcoin's total hash power. Its design allows it to inherit the security of Rootstock's Bitcoin while supporting Ethereum-compatible smart contracts. RootstockLabs is a major contributor to Rootstock.
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Animoka Japan, RootstockLabs Eye Bitcoin Treasury Services
The partnership will focus on helping Japanese companies manage Bitcoin as part of their treasury operations, including exploring Bitcoin-based financial instruments and services built on Rootstock. The companies also said they will look at ways businesses can use these tools to improve treasury efficiency while staying within Japan's regulatory framework.
The two companies are evaluating utility protocols such as Rootstock Bitcoin (rBTC), a Bitcoin-pegged token used in the DeFi ecosystem, and the Rootstock Infrastructure Framework (RIF) built on the Rootstock sidechain, enabling fast and cheap decentralized applications to measure Bitcoin.
Animoka Brands Japan may provide these services through the Digital Asset Treasury Management Support Service.
Related: Japan's Financial Regulator to Ban Crypto Insider Trading
Bitcoin has gained wealth in Japan as a treasury
Japanese companies have shown a growing interest in holding Bitcoin as a long-term strategic reserve. Metaplanet is the most prominent corporate adopter of the Bitcoin treasury strategy in the country, with a 35,102 BTC account worth around $3.09 billion, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET.
Other publicly traded Japanese companies that have built Bitcoin slots include NEXON Co., Ltd. which holds about 1,717 BTC, followed by Remixpoint with 1,411 BTC and Anap Holdings Inc. with 1,347 BTC.
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