MULTI-billion pound internet services and retail company Rakuten, Inc has announced it will be opening its first office in Northern Ireland.
The Rakuten Blockchain Lab (RBL) will be based in Belfast and focus on research and development for its blockchain technologies, the software platform which underpins digital payments such as Bitcoin.
The move comes after Tokyo-based Rakuten secured the acquisition of Belfast-based e-commerce firm Bitnet’s intellectual property rights concerning its Bitcoin technologies.
This will allow Rakuten to test the blockchain technology on Bitnet’s digital payment platform.
Blockchain is a digital, open ledger for online transactions which is distributed across hundreds of computers worldwide, negating the necessity for a single databank to hold information.
This makes data, and therefore payments, much more secure and less vulnerable to hacking – prompting industry leaders to tout blockchain tech as ‘the future of financial transactions.’
Even the UK’s chief scientific advisor Sir Mark Walport encouraged the British government to start using the technology earlier this year.
Rakuten vice-president Yasufumi Hirai said the move is just the beginning for the company’s tech expansion.
“The new Rakuten Blockchain Lab will be our first step toward unlocking blockchain’s potential to revolutionize the way that financial and e-commerce transactions are conducted,” he said.
The lab’s head of engineering Fergal Downey said the work taking place at the Belfast site will be integral to the burgeoning industry.
"We are delighted that Rakuten have chosen to open their new Blockchain Lab here in Belfast,” he said.
“There are so many great opportunities for blockchain technologies inside Rakuten and the newly created lab will be instrumental in delivering new and innovative solutions."
Mr Downey and Bitnet co-founder Stephen McNamara are both joining the lab from Bitnet and running day-to-day operations for Rakuten.
The deal between Bitnet and the Japanese firm, which owns dozen of online retail companies worldwide, will see consumers being able to pay via Bitcoin at one of dozens of shopping sites in Rakuten’s vast online marketplace portfolio.
Since 2012, Rakuten has been ranked among the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Companies’ in Forbes magazine’s annual list, operates in twelve countries over four continents and employs more than 12,000 people.
The Belfast lab looks set to officially launch its operation on Monday.
