🇯🇵 TL;DR: We’re heading East

Bankless Japan is a media node of the Bankless movement, aiming to onboard 1 billion people into crypto through media, culture and education.

Bankless Japan started as a BanklessDAO translation node, now producing original content and developing partnerships. Thus far we have:

• Launched a newsletter with +10,000 monthly views
• Hosted 4 in-person events in Tokyo and Kyoto
• Collaborated with 5 conferences in Japan as a media partner
• Followed by +850 accounts on Twitter
• Conducted over 30 interviews

We want to accelerate the adoption of crypto, specifically DAOs, within Japan and abroad. We will do this through increased content and event creation and the eventual creation of Asia’s first self-sustainable community DAO. This new vision cannot be accomplished through BanklessDAO grants alone, which is our main source of funding.

Under the Gitcoin Web3 Community and Education round, we hope to raise the funds needed to kickstart this ambitious vision and continue fulfilling the Bankless mission.

🧭 Mission

Onboard Japan into crypto, web3 and DAOs and promote our ecosystem abroad.

The Bankless movement aims to onboard 1 billion people into crypto, including Bankless Japan. But we aim to do this through a blend of content and partnerships that is informed by Japan’s culture, creation of intellectual property and helping those intertwined with the Japanese ecosystem to adopt this new way of work.

🔥 Vision

Bankless Japan will become Asia’s first self-sustainable community DAO, pioneering the future of organization, work and incentives.

As we started Bankless Japan, we knew that simply translating articles and localizing the Bankless movement was not enough. Once we have transitioned to a community DAO, Bankless Japan aims to empower Japanese and global creators, enthusiasts and organizations to embrace the potential of DAOs and web3.

🤔 Ecosystem Challenges

Adoption slowed by language and cultural barriers

Crypto-curious users in Japan are often distant from global crypto trends. This is due to issues like language barriers, major time zone differences and the use of cultural references and memes that resonate more strongly in the West than in the East.

Difficulty of penetrating local market for global players

The same language and cultural barriers that impede locals from entering crypto also prevent global players from effectively integrating their products in Japan. Without the support of local experts they may deploy their products in a way that does not lead to adequate adoption in Japan.

Talent flight due to regulations

Recent events like FTX Japan’s insulation from the parent company’s implosion have shown that Japan’s customer-first safety regulation can be effective. But Japan’s initial heavy regulations after Mt. Gox has led to many companies deciding to incorporate overseas.

Low penetration of indie Japanese IP in global market

There is a wealth of intellectual properties generated in Japan, such as video games, music, manga, anime, and other cultural artifacts. But only a few Japanese creators and artists can effectively deliver their work and art to a global audience.

🚢 What We’ve Shipped

Newsletter

Launched in July 2022, our newsletter delivers high-quality content every weekday in Japanese. We now have over 10,000 monthly views with a 50% email open rate. Our content includes deep dives into products and topics like liquid staking, zkEVM, Perpetual Protocol and more. We also highlight Japanese projects like akiyaDAO and IZUMO.

Event media partnerships and interviews

We have built a strong track record of media partnerships with events like DAO TOKYO, ETHGlobal Tokyo, IVS Crypto and WebX. Bankless Japan moderated a number of panels on NFTs and DAOs at these events, providing local context and to promote the Bankless mission.

We also conducted more than 30 interviews with prominent figures in the space during these events, including Rune Christensen (MakerDAO), Richard Ma (Quantstamp), Arisa Toyo (Cega), and many others, delivering their insights to the Japanese and global web3 community during 2023.

In-Person events

Since IVS Crypto we have hosted a recurring event called DAO Night, where those working in or are curious about DAOs can learn from invited experts and amongst others.

We also partnered with Aleo to host the first Aleo zkMeetup in Tokyo, helping educate local builders about the the privacy superpowers that zero-knowledge technology brings.

Twitter and AMAs

Twitter is a major platform in the crypto space, especially in Japan. As one of the most effective and crucial media outlets, we've broadcasted AMAs through Twitter Spaces in Japanese to increase their popularity and drive their expansion into the Japanese ecosystem.

Our Twitter presence has over 850 followers where we create threads on educational web3 topics and also highlight projects and events that Bankless Japan participates in.

Networking opportunities

We helped create Oneesama DAO, a mentorship program for women in web3 that not only live in Japan but also those globally.

Merchandise

We have sold a limited number of the famous バンクレス t-shirts for DAO TOKYO, ETHGlobal Tokyo, WebX and Permissionless attendees that wanted to promote the Bankless mission.

✨ What Funding Will Go Towards

Media and education expansion

We'll establish a more effective media creation process that helps educate Japanese and global audiences on crypto and web3 more effectively. This includes expanding our reach to channels like Lens, YouTube and podcasts.

This new process will help us to not only better promote the products and services of our partners within Japan. But to also promote the Japanese ecosystem to a wider audience, using the global reach that the Bankless brand has.

This new media process includes the creation of more educational content, which we can deliver through more channels such as in-person workshops. We will also work with partners to deliver educational content that can be conveyed more effectively through a collaborative effort.

Culture and IP creation

We are already working on new merchandise similar to our バンクレス t-shirts, items that blend the Bankless branding with Japanese culture. We will also explore creating our own NFT collections, to be used as a fundraising mechanism or to promote local artists and establish their IPs on-chain.

Community building

We have begun working on collaborations with Japanese and global organizations that want to bring more awareness to crypto and web3 in Japan. Or simply to create a space where existing builders and enthusiasts can network with each other and create new opportunities.

We will be fulfilling these through in-person meetups in Japan and online events through our existing channels (Twitter), and new ones that we will establish (Discord, Lens and YouTube).

GTM consulting

For us to onboard 1 billion people into crypto, we need to discover and ship new use cases for those new users to adopt. There is a lot of interest from existing organizations and projects in Japan that want to adopt blockchain, web3 and DAO technologies. We want to help bridge that gap so their new use cases not only solve the challenges they face, but to help draw new audiences into crypto.

Thus we will create a new Go-To-Market (GTM) consulting service where we work with existing companies in Japan to help them integrate blockchain, web3 and DAO technologies into their processes. This service will also help global organizations in this space promote their products and services in Japan.

Connecting web3 talent with recruiters

We have existing relationships with recruiters in Japan that will soon be looking for web3 talent to join their clients. Other than recruiting contributors for our new DAO we will also help recruiters connect with potential employees through our own job board.

💪 Potential Impact

Onboard and educate more people in Japan and elsewhere about crypto, web3 and DAOs

Unlock the potential of Japanese creators and intellectual properties through crypto

Help inspire the creation of self-sustainable DAOs in Japan and beyond

Spotlight and dive deeper into the Japanese market for global crypto audiences

Popularize DAOs for Japanese corporations, government and existing organizations