Japan’s Cabinet approved this Friday, April 10, a bill that would move the regulation of virtual currencies into the framework of traditional financial products. The initiative aims to reclassify these assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) and move them away from the Payment Services Act that previously governed them.
This change means that assets like Bitcoin (BTC) it will disappear Legally treated only as a medium of exchange They need to be monitored with the same rigor as stocks and bonds.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) justified this move by noting that these assets were being repurposed from payment instruments to speculative investment vehicles.
This change in behavior has led to an increase in complaints of fraud and market manipulation starting in 2025. According to the Financial Services Agency, previous regulations focused on payment liquidity. Lack of tools needed to audit platform solvency Protect your assets from corporate abuse.
Under new regulations led by Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, the sector will have to adopt transparency protocols that were previously limited to traditional banking operations.
Use of privileged information is officially prohibited (insider trading)y Asset issuers are required to issue audited annual reports. “We will strive to guarantee the protection of stocks and investors even in the face of changes in the capital markets,” Katayama said, stressing that the safety of the financial system against the uncontrolled growth of unregulated assets is a top priority.
Tightening the rules includes significantly increasing criminal penalties. Companies operating without a license can now face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 10 million yen (about $62,770).
This punitive structure is intended to force a purge in the Japanese market. Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission plays an active role Technical supervision of daily operations.
Many in the local industry believe the measure will bring legal clarity, but there are questions about its impact on innovation. Small and medium-sized businesses in the sector warn that high compliance costs and annual audit requirements could drive less capitalized players out of the market, concentrating the sector in the hands of large financial conglomerates. This bill will be debated in the Diet, and if approved, it is scheduled to go into effect in fiscal 2027.
This cabinet measure is Regulatory process that Japan started in November 2025as reported by CriptoNoticias. On this day, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) was already considering reclassifying 105 virtual currencies listed on domestic exchanges, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as financial products.
The authorities are also considering lowering the tax rate on crypto-asset profits from the current 55% to a flat 20%, similar to that applied to stock investments, and allowing the use of crypto-assets as the basis for exchange-traded funds from 2028.
(Tag translation) Bitcoin (BTC)
