Japan Bitcoin Industry Co., Ltd. has introduced Aurora, a self-custodial Bitcoin payments platform designed to help Japanese companies reach international customers who face restrictions through traditional payment systems.
The platform was unveiled this week at the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong. Aurora enables international buyers to pay in Bitcoin over the Lightning Network while providing Japanese merchants with point-of-sale tools and an API layer for invoice management, payment tracking, and system integrations.
Addressing a Payment Gap
Japanese anime, manga, games, and related content have a substantial global audience, yet the payment infrastructure supporting this content has not kept pace with demand. Many overseas fans encounter geographic payment restrictions when attempting to purchase streaming subscriptions, digital merchandise, and limited-access releases.
According to JBI, the international market for Japanese anime content reached ¥2.17 trillion in 2024, representing 26% year-over-year growth.
Self-Custodial Model
Aurora operates on a core principle: JBI never holds customer funds. Each merchant runs its own self-custodial Lightning node and receives Bitcoin directly from customers. This structure provides businesses with cleaner regulatory positioning while JBI handles operational responsibilities including node uptime, liquidity management, accounting, auditing, and fiat conversion.
JBI built Aurora on experience from UseBitcoin.jp, its existing consumer service that has enabled customers to purchase digital gift cards using Lightning payments for the past two years.
