Viber, an instant messaging app run by Japanese multinational Rakuten, plans to become a cryptocurrency platform for its parent company Rakuten Coin.
The messaging app will be key to Rakuten's plans to create its own cryptocurrency, according to Djamel Agawa, Viber's chief executive. Viber, which has a monthly active audience of 45 million Russian users, plans to launch an e-commerce platform in Russia as early as the fourth quarter of 2018.
The Rakuten coin will be available on Viber and can be purchased in exchange for US dollars, euros and Russian rubles. Rakuten Coin will be supported by the entire Rakuten ecosystem, and will make it possible to pay for purchases through the Viber wallet.
Also, a multinational consortium plans to convert the Rakuten Super Points loyalty system, which has distributed more than 1 trillion “super points” to customers for a total value of $9.1 billion, into a new cryptocurrency system.
Viber, today, is far from the most dominant messaging application in the West. It has only 15 percent market share in the United States and 22 percent in Western Europe. However, in Central and Eastern Europe the market share reaches 73 percent, and 76 percent in Russia.
The Japanese conglomerate is studying the latest legislative changes regarding digital assets in Russia with a view to launching a new service in 2019. In May, the Russian parliament approved the first reading of laws on cryptocurrency. According to the bills approved by the Russian Parliament, crypto assets are not legal tender in the Russian Federation, but can be exchanged for rubles and foreign currencies and used for payments within the framework of the law.
In general, it is clear that Viber does not intend to lag behind its competitor Telegram, with its release of the GRAM coin. It is still difficult to predict how the Viber scenario in Russia will develop, given the attitude of regulatory authorities towards social networks and instant messengers, but recent events with Telegram suggest that the company’s path in Russia will not be easy.
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