Japanese Homemakers Could Rank as Top Crypto Traders

<div id="bsf_rt_marker">
  <p>At the dawn of the 21st century, prior to Bitcoin's inception, a network of Japanese housewives, resembling a mommy blogger community, connected online to hone their proficiency in trading, subsequently becoming some of Bitcoin's earliest and accomplished investors.</p>
  <p>Interestingly, a number of Japanese-established crypto exchanges, including Mt. Gox, Bitflyer, CoinCheck, Zaif, and Liquid (formerly Quoinex and Qryptos), were once listed as some of the highest-volume crypto exchanges, originating <strong>more than ten years ago.</strong></p>
  <p>Large corporations from Japan such as SBI and Rakuten are noted for their extensive investments in cryptocurrency, participating in early funding rounds for Ripple, supporting Bitcoin mining operations, and backing various pioneering companies in the cryptocurrency domain.</p>
  <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-japan-s-mrs-jones">Japan’s Mrs. Jones Phenomenon</h2>
  <p>The moniker 'Mrs. Watanabe' may not be widely recognized. It represents a collective persona more so than an individual, referring to the archetype of a Japanese housewife who engages in lucrative foreign exchange (FX) trading during her spouse’s working hours. This figure is analogous to ‘Mrs. Jones,’ an emblem of the quintessential American housewife.</p>
  <p>Numerous Mrs. Watanabes started engaging in FX during the early 2000s, with a particular fondness for the AUD/JPY <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2009/mar/pdf/bu-0309-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carry trade</a>. Notably, carry trading is usually considered a lower-risk financial strategy, and during that era, it was especially lucrative for Japanese citizens.</p>
  <p>Thanks to Japan’s financial policies then, which included historically low-interest rates due to the Ministry of Finance influencing the bond markets, these housewives had the opportunity to borrow immense amounts of Japanese yen at discounted rates. They subsequently gained yields from foreign currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars.</p>
  <p>Additionally, FX brokers offered particularly high leverage, sometimes as low as 0.25% margin requirements. This meant that with only a $10,000 deposit, Mrs. Watanabe could engage in carry trades involving as much as <strong>$4 million of AUD/JPY</strong>.</p>
  <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Prosperity among Japanese Homemakers</h2>
  <p>As FX accounts became widespread in Japanese homes, often under the husband's name but managed by the wife, these women built communities through chat rooms, blogs, and shared insights on FX trading.</p>
  <p>Some feminists highlight the historical importance of women in household financial duties in Japan, which includes overseeing their husbands' finances. Despite this, the real management of FX and crypto accounts today might lean toward male dominance, particularly as the dynamics of Japanese households have evolved towards dual incomes.</p>
  <p>Those women who amassed wealth via FX trading soon expanded their financial activities into other markets. <strong>Some analysts attribute Mrs. Watanabe with influencing the depreciation of the USD after Iraq’s invasion and inciting volatility in the Swiss franc at various times.</strong></p>
  <p>Yet, as with most grassroots investment movements, a significant portion of these Japanese traders faced losses, especially during the 2008 financial downturn, where overall carrying positions yielded substantial setbacks.</p>
  <p>Regardless, the legacy of financially involved Japanese women has had lasting echoes in the initial wave of crypto trading.</s></p>
  <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Advent of Mrs. Watanabe in Cryptocurrency</h2>
  <p>Mt. Gox from Japan gained notoriety as the supreme Bitcoin exchange for about four years and the platform Liquid, also from Japan, accommodated one of the monumental ICOs: Telegram's $1.7 billion <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2019-212" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GRAM</a> token offering.</p>
  <p>The Japanese Financial Services Agency took the lead in regulatory measures for the crypto sector, conducting the first probe into a major exchange failure (Mt. Gox in 2014) and among the earliest to implement policies for pre-approved token listings.</p>
  <p>Uniquely in Japan, crypto exchanges require a governmental green light <em>before commencing any token listings.</em> Furthermore, post-2008 crisis, Japanese lawmakers have crafted consumer protection laws capping the leverage and trade types available to retail investors.</p>
  <p>Even in 2022, Mrs. Watanabe—whichever identity she may hold—still represented a staggering <strong><a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Currencies/Mrs.-Watanabe-had-a-change-of-heart-in-2022-Bank-of-Japan-report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">28%</a> of the global retail FX market</strong>, even though Japan's interbank FX spot transactions accounted for just 7% in the same period. This skewed level of FX market participation persists today, as recorded by the Bank of Japan.</p>
  <p><em>Learn more: </em><a href="https://protos.com/mt-gox-hasnt-sold-any-of-its-140000-bitcoin-but-its-planning-to-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mt. Gox hasn't divested of its 140,000 bitcoins but has plans to do so</a></p>
  <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Japan's Outsized Role in Cryptocurrency</h2>
  <p>The exact financial strength of these crypto traders remains undisclosed, but with potential expertise in cryptology or the fundamentals of Bitcoin, such as privacy and direct transactions, many Japanese homemakers could be among the crypto elite.</p>
  <p>Unlike the situation with carry trades, there's no inherent national advantage in cryptocurrency for Mrs. Watanabe. Nevertheless, with a head start in trading financial products like leveraged FX, Japan's housewives hold years of additional, relevant experience.</p>
  <p><em>Have a news tip? Directly contact us via email or ProtonMail. Stay informed by following us on <a href="https://twitter.com/protos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>, </em><a href="https://www.instagram.com/protosmedia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Instagram</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/protos.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Bluesky</em></a><em>, and </em><a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMLmroQsw0bW5Aw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Google News</em></a>, or subscribe to our </em><a href="https://youtube.com/protosmedia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>YouTube</em></a> channel.</p>
</div>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

Please note that while rewriting the content, I’ve preserved the HTML structure and styling class names such as wp-block-heading, the unique id="bsf_rt_marker" for the enclosing div, and links with target="_blank" and rel="noreferrer noopener", as requested.

Source link

#Japanese #housewives #among #traders #crypto