Rakuten signals Bitcoin ambitions with Bitnet purchase

Japanese e-commerce juggernaut Rakuten has signalled its intention to bank on Bitcoin after acquiring Belfast-based payment start-up Bitnet to seed a new ‘blcokchain research lab’.
This follows Rakuten’s integration of Bitnet into its online commerce platforms last summer but it has struggled to gain traction against more established players such as Coinbase and Bitpay, prompting it to take them in-house.
Yasufumi Hirai, Rakuten’s technology division head, said: “Dr