Behind bitcoin boom, Japanese retail investors pile in
(WorldNews Business)

By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan`s army of retail investors, no strangers to high risk bets in the past, have emerged as a major force in bitcoin`s spectacular rally, now accounting for an estimated 30-50 percent of trading in the cryptocurrency as it spikes to record highs. Once sceptics, Japanese retail investors have been attracted by the digital currency`s volatility and inefficiencies in pricing that create opportunities to make money on arbitrage between exchanges. `When I first heard about the bitcoin a few years ago, I thought it was a fraud,` said Yoshinori Kobayashi, 39, a former stock trader who took up bitcoin trading two-and-a-half years ago. `But I tried it out after I...