There's interesting news coming out of Japan's cryptocurrency industry.

Coincheck Users Can Now Stake Altcoin Lisk

Lisk recently saw a 50 percent gain against BTC. Now Tokyo-based Coincheck will allow Lisk staking. Users with at least 10 Lisk can stake it in beta mode. Staking is when a person can validate transactions based on the number of coins he or she has. They get mining power from their coins instead of selling them to pay for electricity and computer power for mining.

A Blockchain Line of Credit

Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank will begin using blockchain-based letters of credit. The letters of credit are proof of payment in trade settlements for their London branch. The paperless procedure cuts the time down for the process from 10 hours to two hours. They will use finance platform Komgo developed by KomGo, a Switzerland-based blockchain company. Lloyds Bank of the UK is already using Komgo to improve their efficiency.

A Digital Yuan May Challenge the Dollar Monopoly in Emerging Nations

Asian Development Bank President-Elect Masatsugu Asakawa suggests digital renminbi could change the dollar monopoly in emerging nations. In countries where the public lost confidence in their own currency, the may use the digital yuan. Renminbi is the People's Republic of China official currency and each unit is a yuan. Chief Market Economist Daisuke Karakama of Mizuho Bank says it will be difficult for the digital renminbi to take over for the U.S. dollar. Japanese Prime Minister Aso, who is also the Finance Minister, said a digital yuan could be a problem as Japan has always used USDs in international settlements.

We can expect more cryptocurrency innovations and new coming from Japan as the nation has embraced blockchain technology from the start. They have several international Bitcoin exchange platforms with a variety of altcoins available.