Japan grants cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status

[Hydrogen]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) on Wednesday gave the cryptocurrency industry self-regulatory status, permitting the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association to police and sanction exchanges for any violations.

The government has been reviewing its approach toward an industry that has been hit twice by large-scale thefts.

The FSA approval gives the industry association rights to set rules to safeguard customer assets, prevent money laundering, and give operational guidelines. The association will also have to police compliance.

“It’s a very fast moving industry. It’s better for experts to make rules in a timely manner than bureaucrats do,” a senior FSA official said in a briefing, declining to be named.

Similar officially sanctioned bodies exist in industries such as securities brokerages.

“We will make further efforts to build an industry that is trusted by customers,” the cryptocurrency industry association said in a statement following the FSA approval.

Japan last year became the first country to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, as it encourages technological innovation while ensuring consumer protection. Exchanges have to register with FSA.

Both the regulator and the industry were criticized after about $60 million was stolen from cryptocurrency firm Tech Bureau Corp in September. Before the incident, the company was slapped with two business improvement orders by FSA following the theft of $530 million in digital coins at Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc in January.

Some FSA officials said the crypto industry now needs heavier regulatory approach, while not wanting to stifle its growth.

Yuri Suzuki, senior partner at law firm Atsumi & Sakai, said the self-regulatory body’s rules are stricter than the current law and she expects them to help the industry to regain public trust.

At the same time, “the self-regulatory body’s workload is likely to be heavy and there is an issue of whether it can secure enough staff with expertise in crypto exchange business,” said Suzuki, who closely follows crypto industry regulation at home and overseas.

FSA on Wednesday also published a set of guidelines for those applying to run crypto exchange. The agency said there are about 160 entities expressed interest.

There are 16 approved crypto exchanges. FSA has not granted any new approval since December last year. “We are looking into more details than before. In that sense, the approval process has become more strict,” the FSA official said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-cryptocurrency/japan-grants-cryptocurrency-industry-self-regulatory-status-idUSKCN1MY10W

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This represents a contrast to crypto regulation in other countries whose regulation consists of being overseen and run by banks imo.

Over the long term it could mean japan's crypto economy will carry intrinsic advantages over that of the crypto econ of other countries.

Japan's traditional culture being one which tends to espouse delayed gratification and hard work over instant gratification and focusing on short term perspecdtives, it is possible their culture will mesh well will with the long term HODL ethos of bitcoin and crypto which highlight long term deflationary models of creating value.

Japan's culture also being integral with science fiction, engineering, science, robotics and technology fields could make it more likely to embrace techno currencies like bitcoin which are extremely interesting from a technology and engineering perspective. Perhaps japan and bitcoin will form a type of union that "makes sense". This regulation would appear to be a step in that direction.

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[dothebeats]

Japan is so advanced than the other countries in so many things, one would be its government. The trust their government has with the experts on the field is simply admirable, and to know that these experts could abuse the self-regulatory status of the crypto industry in Japan makes it worrying and amazing at the same time. It's amazing that they believe in the real experts rather than push the agenda of some of the government officials that knew nothing about the industry. This is surely another step towards bitcoin adoption, and surely a positive one for the news.

[exstasie]

This represents a contrast to crypto regulation in other countries whose regulation consists of being overseen and run by banks imo.

Over the long term it could mean japan's crypto economy will carry intrinsic advantages over that of the crypto econ of other countries.

I definitely agree with that. Self-regulatory bodies are in a better position to act swiftly and ensure best practices vs. dinosaur government agencies that are just beginning to wrap their head around crypto.

I don't think Japan will be alone in that respect though. In the US, we have FINRA which self-regulates securities, for example. I'm guessing the US will eventually have a self-regulating organization for cryptocurrencies too.

[frowsiter]

Japans financial Service agency is something the world should know about because they are the one making best decisions about the adoption of crypto currencies. This was the similar period last year when Japan declared crypto currencies as the legal tender in their country and thus there was big boom of it throughout the world as well. Everyone thought that their countries will also do the same, unfortunately it was mess for others. Similarly this year, Japan is advancing their decisions to the next level and making history here. I guess there is no other country which can catch up the law enforcement and adoption of something new so fast as compared to Japan.

[Indrawan77]

It shocked me, Japan government really thinking advance and dare to take a great step toward a better system I never thought that a government will dare to make this decision that freely allowed crypto to blend in with banking system, this could be a positive sign that crypto could survive for a long time and maybe could be the trigger for other countries to follow

[cabron]

Hope the rest of the countries will follow what they are doing, I';ve read this news from cointelegraph yesterday and known cryptocurrency users were very much positive about this act. I think this will really help the adoption in the country. Japan is one of the country with less corruption in the world which I think they learned blockchain can help them advance more in this technology.

[yitzjoe]

Japan is one step ahead of many countries in the world, especially in crypto in general. crypto they make as partners in all fields of work that exist in the country, both tenology, health, entertainment, investment and also gembling.
regulation will indeed experience obstacles but they will continue to achieve maximum effort because they continue to strive for it. Crypto's progress is reflected in this country, and hopefully many countries are able to read and accept Japanese thinking about crypto

[FunGate]

"How you do anything is how you do everything."

Japan is very forward thinking, technologically-oriented country, and definitely has a culture of doing whatever it takes to achieve collective well-being, even if that means temporary discomfort associated with treading in unknown territory.

Japan's regulating of cryptocurrency, and imminent success, will set an example for other countries to do the same and will lead to its universal utility.

[beerlover]

This represents a contrast to crypto regulation in other countries whose regulation consists of being overseen and run by banks imo.

Over the long term it could mean japan's crypto economy will carry intrinsic advantages over that of the crypto econ of other countries.

I definitely agree with that. Self-regulatory bodies are in a better position to act swiftly and ensure best practices vs. dinosaur government agencies that are just beginning to wrap their head around crypto.

I don't think Japan will be alone in that respect though. In the US, we have FINRA which self-regulates securities, for example. I'm guessing the US will eventually have a self-regulating organization for cryptocurrencies too.

Yes, this is one of the reasons why I see Japan thriving well in this crypto space in the long run, and not just some government trying to want to lay huge hold on the development of the space. I am sure the Japanese government with all these developments is smart enough to see what some other countries are not seeing in terms of development and growth of this space, and getting it right now is actually something that will give them an edge in the long run. In the long run just like you said; I am sure that we will actually get to see more countries coming up with the same strategy while using Japan as a case study.

It is obvious Japan is trying to do everything possible to make it a win-win situation for everyone which is why I believe that this step is one of the main things that would really tell on their economy for the greater good in the long run. It is really must be good step in the right direction if I am asked.

I like countries that can quickly think on their feet and out of the box, and like the article said, this is a fast growing space and for sure, there is no way you can get it all right immediately, which is why it would keep taking gradual process to refine and tune everything necessary, but I believe this to be a good step actually.

[DAVETUN]

The future is brigth for the cryptocurrency platform, with regulation in the space you can be sure of  a positive outcome in the space, as more investors will join the space.
I believe the regulation be effective more when Government is involve and not a self-rugualtory status which is prone to be abuse.

[pavka]

The actions of Japan are fully consistent with the spirit and ideas laid down in the cryptocurrency, namely the freedom from any interference and regulation. The Japanese government has obviously demonstrated trust and respect for the cryptocurrency market. This is great news!

[wahyu wida]

The actions of Japan are fully consistent with the spirit and ideas laid down in the cryptocurrency, namely the freedom from any interference and regulation. The Japanese government has obviously demonstrated trust and respect for the cryptocurrency market. This is great news!

we know Japan is country in forefront of cryptocurrency. of course they always make a breakthrough for development of cryptocurrency, so that if many countries have followed in their footsteps, they will prosper

[jossiel]

It shocked me

This isn't shocking as expected to one of the well known country that supports crypto.

They are putting it to the next level and this gives the confidence that crypto market is seriously being adopted to Japan. While others are still skeptic and won't ready to adopt it, this is a perfect example and this can put a question on their mind what Japan thinks of crypto's.

[ongkok87]

The actions of Japan are fully consistent with the spirit and ideas laid down in the cryptocurrency, namely the freedom from any interference and regulation. The Japanese government has obviously demonstrated trust and respect for the cryptocurrency market. This is great news!

we know Japan is country in forefront of cryptocurrency. of course they always make a breakthrough for development of cryptocurrency, so that if many countries have followed in their footsteps, they will prosper

it's true that Japan has legalized bitcoin and other crypto is very good news, and my hope is that countries that are still looking at Bitcoin can be as soon as possible to legalize bitcoin and other digital money

[Idrisu]

This is the kind of news that do influence the market last year and I also believe that in some days to come this is going to push bitcoin upwards.  Many good news are out there this days and those news are going to be transmitted into upwards price movement in weeks to come.

[Enzos]

I know Japan very well, although the Japanese committed many sins in World War II. But on the economy and the quality of the nation, Japan is the highest in the world. They are the Japanese people who threatened the Japanese island during the earthquake and tsunami. They have a sense of crisis from birth, which makes their hugs for the next era often faster than other countries. This has something to do with the national conditions. This is an oriental civilization that cannot be ignored. . Mentioned that Japan had to mention China, the Japanese clan originated from the Chinese civilization, and the East would illuminate the future world economy.

[Bitcotalk]

Bitcoin was already big in japan as it is. There was this card company (kinda like gift card type deal I think) that basically could be bought with bitcoin and accepted in 260 thousand stores which is basically almost everywhere. We are talking about two hundred and sixt thousand stores that indirectly takes bitcoin, that is as adopted as it gets.

Maybe they are not taking bitcoin directly but they are accepting that card and you can buy that card with bitcoin which indirectly means they accept bitcoin.

All these considered japan is still one of the most inclusive countries to get into so it would be definetly to our advantage to have improvements to bitcoin world made by japan. They could really help us out on the entrepreneur ways and find a japanese way to add something to crypto world.

[serizawa]

Japan and Singapore are very accepting of Bitcoin and now Japan describes the regulatory status of bitcoin as this is very encouraging news for bitcoin holders

[eternalgloom]

While it's definitely great that Japan's crypto industry would now be able to regulate itself, I do wonder if that wouldn't cause Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges to basically make it impossible for new companies to enter the market.

It even says this:

Yuri Suzuki, senior partner at law firm Atsumi & Sakai, said the self-regulatory body’s rules are stricter than the current law and she expects them to help the industry to regain public trust.

Current Japanese exchanges stand to gain a lot, by making it as difficult as possible for new companies to enter the market.

[rickyNmorty]

Japan is one of Asian country have allowed for using bitcoin s transaction payment, but for taking regulation of bitcoin and altcoin price I think is not good choose because no body could change and have regulation about bitcoin and altcoin price.

It is not really not to have regulations at all. But it would be like having some tax put on it and such. With such legalization, this will be good to the market. This will boost the number of users, which is good to cryptocurrency. This kind of thing that happens is a good indication.