What is the boundary between finance and gambling? Considering perpetual futures, prediction markets, and stock tokenization ("So That's Blockchain Ep.18" Yoshihiko Uchida, Yuya Sakai, Shinya Otsuka)

"So That's Blockchain" Ep.18

In this podcast, Yoshihiko Uchida, who has a background in bank supervision at the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency and currently teaches blockchain at Shunan University, Yuya Sakai, founder of a gourmet app who has combined Web2 services with blockchain to build a Web3 business, and Shinya Otsuka, deputy editor-in-chief of the crypto media "New Economy," introduce what you need to know about blockchain today.

In this 18th episode, we continue our discussion on DeFi as part 6 of the second section "Existing Finance × Blockchain." The themes are perpetual (no expiration futures), prediction markets, and stock tokenization.

First, we organized existing futures trading as a "tool linked to economic activities" that has an expiration date, allowing companies and investors to hedge against price fluctuations. We explained the role of hedging using examples such as rice, ice cream ingredients, crude oil, and foreign exchange.

Then, we explained the mechanism of perpetual futures, which do not have an expiration date, to suppress the divergence from spot prices through the funding rate. We raised the question of whether it is becoming biased towards betting on price fluctuations while remaining loosely connected to economic activities.

Furthermore, in prediction markets, we compared transactions that mitigate business risks, such as weather derivatives, with transactions where individuals not involved in economic activities bet on the outcomes of events, highlighting concerns about the gambling nature of the latter.

In stock tokenization, we pointed out concerns that trading tokens without voting rights may lead to a bias towards betting on stock prices. We also discussed the case of circulating actual stocks on public blockchains. We questioned whether issuers would desire trading without KYC (Know Your Customer) and 24/7 trading without circuit breakers.

Additionally, we discussed how to utilize DeFi while understanding the role of intermediaries and the background of existing financial constraints.

While we have expectations for DeFi as a tool, we noted that having innovative tools and achieving good outcomes from their use are separate issues. We considered how to use them to improve finance and economic activities. In the next episode, episode 19, we will delve deeper into this topic from the perspective of financial crises and financial regulations.

Public Recording Vol.3 10/1 19:00~

In addition, "So Bro" plans to hold the third public recording on October 1st at 19:00 in Yotsuya!

The theme is "How to work with lawyers when conducting blockchain business."

This time, we will welcome Yuya Hara, a partner lawyer at AZX Law Office, to explore "So That's" regarding how to work with lawyers.

On the day, besides discussing "What you need to know about legal compliance," Hara-sensei and the three regular members will delve into recent topics from a blockchain perspective.

Details and participation applications can be found here.

Play the Podcast

You can listen to the program from the following. Please press the play button (wait about 10 seconds after clicking).

• Listen on "Apple Podcast"
• Listen on "Spotify"
• Listen on "Voicy"
• Listen on "YouTube"

Participants

Yoshihiko Uchida 1994-2023 Bank of Japan. Financial Research Institute, Planning Officer, Financial Institutions Bureau, Planning Officer (Group Leader), etc. He has contributed various perspectives on 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 will serve as a director at Questory Co., Ltd., and from April to December 2024, he will participate as a director at Kashi. Currently, he is a professor at the Faculty of Information Science at Shunan University (since June 2023) and also promotes businesses related to digital ID and electronic signatures as an outside director of Cyberlinks Co., Ltd. (from March 2024) and provides 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 service 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 data management for food and healthcare 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 actual demand.

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

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

Official X of So That's Blockchain: https://x.com/soublock
Official site of So That's Blockchain: https://soublock.com/