Web3 can transform the internet, says Japan's PM Fumio Kishida: CoinPost

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said web3 has the potential to transform the traditional internet framework and contribute to social change, speaking at the WebX web3 conference in Tokyo today via a video message. 

Kishida said the government was dedicated to creating an environment conducive to the promotion of web3 as part of his administration’s “new capitalism” economic policy designed to solve social issues by driving growth and innovation, CoinPost reported. “Web3 is part of the new form of capitalism,” he said.

Japan’s leader hoped the conference would serve as a platform where major Japanese companies announce significant projects aimed at creating valuable economic zones within the metaverse, he added.

Japan's advantage in web3

Koichi Hagiuda, chair of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) policy research council, opened the event, saying Japan had an advantage in emerging technologies like web3, having proactively regulated the cryptocurrency market.

Hagiuda also highlighted the importance of international cooperation, given web3's global nature, hinting at potential collaborations with partners from the U.S., France and Singapore, among others.

Japan's focus on web3 started in earnest when the LDP's digital society promotion headquarters established its “web3 project team” in January 2022. The unit regards web3 as the new frontier of the digital economy and recommended its cultivation as an integral part of Kishida's “new capitalism” policy, CoinPost said.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also reconfirmed the launch of its new platform in Japan in August, Bloomberg reported, after acquiring the local exchange platform SEBC in November.