Peach becomes first Japanese airline to accept bitcoin

Peach Aviation will become the country’s first airline to allow customers to pay directly for tickets using bitcoin. Peach is seeking to ride the still surging tide of tourist arrivals from China and South Korea and play on a fascination with bitcoin in Japan that has given rise to a series of marketing gimmicks. The announcement follows changes to Japanese regulation earlier this year that legitimise the bitcoin crypto currency as a form of fund settlement and open the way to what the government hopes will be broader domestic investment in financial technology and innovation. The country’s formal recognition of bitcoin is also a necessary first step in efforts to control something it associates with money laundering and other crime, according to analysts of the bitcoin phenomenon. Peach’s embrace of bitcoin, announced on Monday, follows similar decisions elsewhere in the world. The crypto currency has been accepted for several years as payment at airBaltic, the Latvian low-cost carrier, and Lot, the Polish carrier. However, a number of plans by online retailers and travel agents to accept payments in the virtual currency have often stalled or failed altogether soon after being announced.<br/>