Bitcoin Tops $1100 As Japanese Payments Law Goes Into Effect

After a virtual rollercoaster over the last few weeks, Bitcoin is back above $1100 today as traders anticipate demand with Japan recognizing bitcoin as a legal method of payment starting yesterday.

A weak dollar has helped the bounce back from SEC's ETF decision and fears about the fork but demand from Japanese consumers has sparked the most recent push back up to $1100...

As Coindesk reports, the country's legislature passed a law, following months of debate, that brought bitcoin exchanges under anti-money laundering/know-your-customer rules, while also categorizing bitcoin as a kind of prepaid payment instrument. It's a debate that began in the wake of the collapse of Mt Gox, the now-defunct bitcoin exchange that shuttered after months of growing complications and, in the end, revelations of insolvency and alleged fraud.

According to Japan’s Financial Services Agency, that law went into effect on 1st April, putting in place capital requirements for exchanges as well as cybersecurity and operational stipulations. In addition, those exchanges will also be required to conduct employee training programs and submit to annual audits.


Yet there may be more work to come in this area.

For example, Nomura Research Institute's Yasutake Okano indicated in a May 2016 report that other Japanese laws may need to change to account for the tech, including the Banking Act and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Reports indicate that other groups in Japan are moving to plug some of those gaps as well. According to a report from Nikkei, the Accounting Standards Board of Japan decided earlier this week to begin developing standards for digital currencies like bitcoin. Its work mirrors other efforts being undertaken elsewhere, including Australia, which began pushing for such standards late last year.


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I hope the Japanese will use bitcoin in their purchase. That will provide support to the bitcoin.

Yes, SegWit & LN will definitely be needed for this to go mainstream in Japan. It only takes 1 bad experience for a new user to turn them

against this technology. I have had a personal experience where I introduced someone to Bitcoin and they made a transaction in a time where

one of these spam attacks was done.... the person had to wait 2 hours for his transaction to confirm and they abandoned Bitcoin because of

that. 

Sometimes it's annoying, one day I needed to give somebody money, since transferring the skrill to my bank takes 3 to 7 days and I should transfer bitcoin to neteller first and then neteller to skrill, I did the calculations I could do This operation on Tuesday and Saturday that the person would already have their money.

my mistake. I transferred bicoin to neteller, my god took a day to have a confirmation. It was a nightmare