Can Blockchain Change Finance? ("So That Was Blockchain Ep.22" Yoshihiko Uchida, Yuya Sakai, Shinya Otsuga)

"So That Was Blockchain" Ep.22

In this podcast, Yoshihiko Uchida, who has a background in banking supervision at the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency, and is currently a professor in the Department of Information Science at Shunan University teaching about blockchain, along with Yuya Sakai, a founder of a gourmet app who has built a Web3 business by combining blockchain with Web2 services, and Shinya Otsuga, the deputy editor-in-chief of the crypto media "New Economy," introduce what you need to know about blockchain.

In this 22nd episode, we reflected on the content covered so far as the final part of the second section "Existing Finance × Blockchain."

We organized the points discussed in the second part from the perspective of the foundation of economic activities, including transactions and ownership, "credit" and credit creation, the mechanisms of stablecoins, DeFi, prediction markets, perpetual contracts, and financial regulation and systemic risk. We also revisited the role of KYC that supports transactions and credit.

We suggested that simply transferring existing financial transactions onto blockchain may primarily lead to the "enhancement of payments" and may not go beyond the realm of "digitalization" prior to DX.

Regarding programmable payments, we pointed out that the automation of processing and the responsibility in case of errors are separate issues. Using the example of robot taxis, we confirmed the role of the "middleman" who bears responsibility. We also touched upon the fact that "being available 24/7" and "instant settlement" are separate issues.

Furthermore, we discussed the potential to extend beyond payments to "credit" and balance sheets, and the "function of traversing between gardens" that stablecoins possess. We debated the possibility of customers holding their transaction history and attribute information and utilizing them for credit across financial institutions. On the other hand, we pointed out the difficulty of incorporating the concept of tokens into the existing financial framework.

Finally, we returned to the awareness of the first part, which focuses on values that cannot be measured by money, and redefined tokens as tools to motivate activities that cannot be incentivized solely by monetary rewards. In the third part, we will delve into themes such as KYC, ID, data sovereignty, the use of credentials, and accounts.

Next time, we plan to deliver the second installment of the public recording held on August 7 at 19:00.

We will welcome Yusuke Shitara, the editor-in-chief of "New Economy," and reflect on Japan's largest blockchain festival "Japan Blockchain Week 2026" held in July from each perspective, and explore the future of the industry in the second half of 2026 and beyond.

The 23rd episode, which will mark the start of the third part, is scheduled to be released on November 3, 2026. We will explain the overview of the third part's theme "Identity Verification × Finance = Incentivization."

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Participants

Yoshihiko Uchida 1994-2023 Bank of Japan. Financial Research Institute, Planning Officer, Financial Institutions Bureau, Planning Officer (Group Leader), etc. He has provided various insights into risk management and management of financial institutions. During this time, he also worked at the Financial Services Agency, Osaka University, and the University of Tokyo. From June to November 2023, he served as a director at Questory Co., Ltd., and from April to December 2024, he will serve as a director at Cachey, participating as a manager in web3 startups. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of Information Science at Shunan University (since June 2023) and is also promoting businesses related to digital ID and electronic signatures as an outside director of Cyberlinks Co., Ltd. (from March 2024), as well as consulting related to blockchain utilization as the representative director of Yuidzumu Co., Ltd. (from October 2025).

X Account: https://x.com/uchida_tomato

Yuya Sakai Co-founded SARAH Co., Ltd. during his student days. In addition to Japan's largest menu-focused gourmet app "SARAH," he built a big data service for the food industry called "FoodDataBank" for major food manufacturers. As COO, he led fundraising of 1 billion yen and M&A, PMI. Since 2019, he has led the Web3 transformation of SARAH. He developed a Layer 1 unique blockchain "ONIGIRI Chain" specialized in food and healthcare data management and built a token economy. After stepping down as representative director in 2025, he became independent. Currently, he is engaged in consulting focused on the social implementation of blockchain utilization and Web3 businesses with practical demand.

X Account: https://x.com/skyuya03

Interviewer: Shinya Otsuga, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of New Economy

Official X account of "So That Was Blockchain": https://x.com/soublock
Official website of "So That Was Blockchain": https://soublock.com/