Japan’s Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), the self-regulatory body that oversees local crypto exchanges, will allow platforms to list cryptocurrencies without an existing lengthy screening process, according to Bloomberg.
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Fast facts
- The easing is expected to take place as early as December, at which point exchanges will be able to list crypto tokens without a strict review process if the coins have previously been traded in the country. In the case where a crypto token is new to the Japanese market, it is still subject to examination, Bloomberg reported, citing a document distributed to members of the association.
- In the internal document, JVCEA vice chairman Genki Oda reportedly said the governing body could dispose of the screening process entirely by March 2024.
- This may help lower the entry bar for smaller crypto businesses, said the Bloomberg report.
- There are about 50 kinds of cryptocurrencies being traded in Japan due to its stringent listing process, whereas neighboring South Korea has around 650 kinds of coins in its crypto market.
- Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who assumed his position in September 2021, has been a supporter of digital finance and Web3 adoption, recently announcing further investments in growing the non-fungible token (NFT) and the metaverse industry, and has included crypto in his plans to reinvigorate the economy, dubbed the “new capitalism.”
- In addition, the country’s financial regulator and economy ministry is reportedly considering the loosening of taxation on crypto gains in its upcoming 2023 tax reform.
See related article: Japan’s PM announces NFT and metaverse expansion