Chinese tech giant Alibaba will open a blockchain lab in Japan next month in an effort to boost Web3 adoption in the country.
The lab will be a collaboration between Tokyu Land Corporation and Skeleton Crew Studios and will enable game developers to learn about new blockchain technology and explore business opportunities. Skeleton Crew Studio specializes in Virtual Reality gaming.
In addition, Alibaba Cloud will launch its blockchain node service in Japan later this year. The plan is to provide a more user-friendly experience for developers using Alibaba’s cloud infrastructure.
For the time being, the incubation center will only be open to a small group of existing customers who are currently working on projects with Alibaba.
alibaba cloud planning hackathon
The tech firm is also planning a hackathon in collaboration with Hong Kong-based digital asset finance company Hash Key. Whose first phase will start in Tokyo on 2 April.
Yuniuk Song, Country Manager, Alibaba Cloud Japan, said: “The strength of content development and cross-industry digital technology, especially in the gaming space, is creating more opportunities in Japan with a thriving Web3 community. We provide technology platforms, intelligence tools, and encourage customers and developers to create their own applications in areas such as games, the metaverse, and social media.
Japan has recently been playing catch up with its Asian neighbors in terms of Web3 adoption. Finance conglomerate Nomura announced last November that it would offer crypto trading to institutional clients earlier this year.
The group is also building a team to help other companies enter the metaverse. Specifically, it’s thinking of ways to use its investment banking knowledge to help companies raise money and navigate regulations.
And the government, too, is keen to take advantage of Web3 and the metaverse to boost the economy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also spoke last October of the importance of expanding social integration of these technologies.
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