IVS 2026 Panel Examines Tokens' Shift From Marketing Gimmick to Business Tool
The panel signals a maturation of the token space, where industry players are now prioritizing practical infrastructure over speculative marketing.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
On July 3, 2026, at IVS 2026 KYOTO, a panel moderated by lawyer Masashi Masuda discussed the current state of tokens. Panelists from BACKSEAT, Coincheck, and NOT A HOTEL DAO argued that blockchain's real strength is in value transfer, not marketing. Hayashi's BACKSEAT is working with Japanese game companies on a cross-game currency usable across smartphones and consoles. The panel concluded that tokens are moving from speculative hype to practical business infrastructure.
The session, held on the final day of the Kyoto conference, brought together practitioners from regulated industries who have been working with tokens since the early days. Masayasu Hayashi of BACKSEAT described his company's role as behind-the-scenes infrastructure, citing partnerships with Ponta and a major bank-affiliated trust bank for Japan's first crypto asset ETF. In gaming, BACKSEAT is in discussions with leading Japanese game companies to create a common in-game currency that could be earned in a smartphone game and spent on a PlayStation 5 title. Ryo Watanabe of NOT A HOTEL DAO noted that tokens have become linked to real-world assets like real estate. The panel's consensus was that tokens are most useful for transferring and storing value, not for marketing campaigns.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.