Tokyo-based Digital Garage (DG), a context company that covers web business advice, research, web creation, and enhancement, announced its collaboration with blockchain-based startup company Blockstream to jointly develop new blockchain platform and products for the Japanese financial market.

Japanese company Kakaku.com and financial services company Credit Saison will be joining the initiative to accelerate the developments and growths of varied value-based exchange programs and regional currencies. In the agreement between DG and Blockstream, DG will be working to accelerate the development of blockchain-based products at the ‘DG Lab’, an open innovation R&D organization.

“Digital Garage has undertaken significant work to analyze Bitcoin and next generation blockchain technology. I am impressed with both their technical and business understanding of what these new areas of technology mean for their business and for the Japanese market. With their new DG Lab, Digital Garage is well positioned in Japan to lead a wave of new innovation for payments and financial systems.” Dr. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, stated.

With the help of Sidechain technology from Blockstream-developed blockchain extensions technology, the ‘Elements Project’, DG will be developing new products for the country’s market. Along with other key categories like ‘AI’ and ‘Security’, DG Blockchain Lab will cover ‘real-time exchange system’ that will be utilized for credit card loyalty points, electronic money values and digital currency. The Lab will also cover ‘regional money system’ and ‘Machine Automated Contracts’.

The partnership aims to develop a platform that utilizes high applications of blockchain technology for secure and low-cost circulation of digital assets.

The DG Lab’s blockchain engineers will be sent to San Francisco to conduct joint research and development of the Elements Open Source blockchain platform along with Blockstream engineers for several months. During this time, the products developed and delivered will be intended to be deployed through sponsoring companies, business partners and others related to DG Lab and DG Lab Fund.

“By contributing engineering resources directly to upstream Open Source projects like Bitcoin and the Elements Project, DG Lab establishes its leadership in blockchain technology for the Japanese market. Beyond DG Lab's purpose of building financial tech applications for the domestic market, our team demonstrates uncommon expertise with its contributions to the base layers that power the future of global finance. DG Lab is proud to build this future together with partners such as Blockstream,” Kaoru Hayashi, CEO of Digital Garage, said.