Japan's financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has begun debating stricter regulations for cryptocurrencies in an effort to better protect Japanese investors.
In July, the FSA set up a dedicated department as well as a panel of financial experts to assist the government in overseeing digital, decentralized finance. According to the Jiji Press, the agency will also be responsible for tracking developments related to cryptocurrencies and the Central Bank (CBDC) digital currency initiatives.
The financial regulator intends to replace and enforce new cryptocurrency regulations by mid-2022. With these new regulations, the FSA hopes to stabilize the digital currency market while not harming development and innovation in the ecosystem.
The FSA revised a similar law in 2019 that effectively forced cryptocurrencies in Japan to implement new features to protect users' assets. The decision was linked to the hacking of Bitpoint, a $ 32 million loss-making cryptocurrency exchange in Japan.
In addition to the recent hacking of the Liquid cryptocurrency exchange, the FSA believes that domestic operators have not yet taken sufficient action to combat money laundering and price fluctuations.
Earlier this month, the FSA announced that it would approve the FATF’s Travel Rule by 2022, which requires all cryptocurrency service providers to share transaction data. Travel Rule was introduced in 2019 as a preventive measure against money laundering and terrorist financing with cryptocurrencies.
The drive will be supported by the Japanese Virtual Currency Exchange Association “to establish a necessary system” to accurately implement that travel rule.
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/japanese-financial-regulator-considers-imposing-stricter-crypto-rules