Japan's cabinet has approved a bill to classify cryptocurrencies as financial products, CoinDesk reported on April 10, citing Nikkei.
Nikkei said the bill would bring crypto assets into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act framework applied to securities such as stocks. If it passes during the current session of parliament, it could take effect as early as fiscal 2027.
Until now, Japan has mainly treated cryptocurrencies as a means of payment under the Payment Services Act. This approach has focused on asset custody, anti-money laundering checks and exchange registration. Under the new rules, insider trading would be banned and issuers would be required to make annual disclosures.
Penalties would also increase. For unregistered operations, prison terms would rise from 3 years to up to 10 years, while fines would be increased to up to 10 million yen ($62,800). The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission would expand its market oversight powers.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama (가타야마 사쓰키) said at a news conference, "This is a measure to expand the supply of growth capital in response to changes in financial and capital markets, and to ensure market fairness and transparency and investor protection."
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr