Rakuten acquires Bitnet team to establish blockchain laboratory

Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten is opening a blockchain development lab in the UK and has acquired former employees of bitcoin payments startup Bitnet.

Former Bitnet employees Stephen McNamara and Fergal Downey will join the Belfast-based lab, which will focus on research into blockchain technology and broader financial technology, the company said today .

In fact, the e-commerce retailer began accepting Bitcoin payments a year ago, becoming one of the companies in the Asia-Pacific region to explore digital currency payment methods.

According to the Wall Street Journal , the two companies had been in acquisition talks around the time Rakuten first invested in Bitnet, which raised $14.5 million in 2014 to expand into digital currency payment processing.

With the establishment of the lab, Ratuken has joined the ranks of blockchain research. This year, many companies such as Intel, Philips and Hitachi have begun similar research work.

Yasufumi Hirai, Rakuten’s CIO, CISO and head of technology, said in a statement:

“Rakuten Blockchain Lab will be our first step in exploring how blockchain can revolutionize financial and e-commerce transactions.”

According to the company, the blockchain lab is expected to open on August 22.