Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (President & Group CEO: Tatsufumi Sakai) has agreed to sponsor Neutrino, Japan's first blockchain1 coworking space. Neutrino, located in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, was established by Omise Japan (CEO: Jun Hasegawa). Through this arrangement, we look forward to helping shape the blockchain ecosystem2 in Japan, advancing research into operational streamlining using blockchain technology, and developing business that takes advantage of blockchain.
One of the key features of blockchain is the ability to quickly and securely share data among participants, and across industry borders. It is a technology that will allow cross–industry sharing of records and information between companies in widely different business areas, including finance, manufacturing, and energy. Going forward, blockchain will simplify and optimize many different kinds of business operations.
In addition to sponsoring Neutrino, Mizuho will be a long–term tenant of the coworking space, and we look forward to finding applications for blockchain technology and being able to develop new business areas together with the wide variety of sponsors, members, and other specialists Neutrino plans to attract.
We believe that this project and these interactions will bring us one step closer to developing commercial applications for blockchain technology. Mizuho will continue to incorporate the latest technologies into innovative service offerings, with the aim of providing our clients with consistently better financial services.
1: Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology. It utilizes a system of consensus formation among participants to enable transactions to take place even in the absence of a trusted central authority. The technology makes it virtually impossible to falsify transactions, has built–in protection against double entries, and is easy to audit. Blockchain has a number of potential applications in a wide range of fields across the financial services industry, including payments/settlements and securities, as well as other forms of asset transfer, such as land registration.
2: An industrial ecosystem created through the multi–faceted, continuous, interrelated connections between FinTech companies, financial institutions, businesses, investors, regulatory authorities, and specialists such as lawyers and accountants. Ecosystem participants create and promote an environment which is ripe for invention, legal reform, and new ideas, ultimately enabling companies and financial institutions to provide their customers with enhanced services. Additionally, as companies grow and more participants join the ecosystem, diverse services with sustainable business models are born, creating a virtuous cycle of service enhancement.