Japanese government starts issuing cryptocurrency tokens to reward officials

Japan has become one of the first countries to use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an additional reward for local governments that excel in a digitalization competition.

The awards were presented to seven officials by the Cabinet Secretariat in recognition of their efforts to use digital technologies to solve local problems.

The Hazama Base blockchain platform was used to issue and distribute the NFTs. Prior to that, the platform was used at an event organized by the Liberal Democratic Party’s Youth Bureau. The tokens were issued on the Ethereum blockchain but used the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) technology. As a rule, POAP-type NFTs are used at exclusive events. This means that the Secretariat’s tokens cannot be traded on secondary markets and belong to their owners forever.

At the end of August, Ripple’s Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Operations Amy Yoshikawa met with the mayor of Fukuoka, Japan, Soichiro Takashima. The city authorities are considering making virtual currencies a legal tender.