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Japanese Bitcoin industry launches Aurora to enable Lightning payments abroad

Aurora is designed to let overseas anime and games fans pay in Bitcoin via the Lightning Network, while merchants run self-custodial Lightning nodes and handle invoicing, payment tracking, and integrations through Aurora’s API layer.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Market Structure

Bitcoin Magazine reports that Japan Bitcoin Industry Co., Ltd., or JPI, has debuted Aurora, a self-custodial Bitcoin payments platform intended to help Japanese companies sell to international fans who are often blocked by traditional payment systems.

Aurora uses Bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network, giving Japanese merchants a point-of-sale and API layer to manage invoicing, payment tracking, and integrations. The outlet says this targets international demand for Japanese anime and related content, citing JPI estimates that the market outside Japan reached ¥2.17 trillion in 2024, up 26% year over year, even as overseas customers face geographic payment restrictions for streaming subscriptions, digital merchandise, and limited-access drops.

A key feature is that JPI does not touch customer funds. Each merchant runs its own self-custodial Lightning node, receiving Bitcoin directly, while JPI positions Aurora as taking on operational tasks that can deter adoption, including node uptime, liquidity, accounting and auditing, and conversion to fiat.

Bitcoin Magazine adds that Aurora draws on experience from JPI’s UseBitcoin.jp gift card business, which has enabled Lightning-funded purchases of cards including au PAY, V-Preca, and Kyash for the past two years. The company plans to connect with media, prospective merchants, and wallet providers at Bitcoin Asia 2026 in Hong Kong.

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