CATCHING UP WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD JAPAN IN THE RACE FOR DIGITAL CURRENCIES

Marcin Socha in CAA Policy Paper discusses the recent changes in Japanese regulations governing trade in digital currencies.

The data released by Japan’s Financial Services Agency shows that the revenue from digital currency trading rose to 543 billion USD in 2017 from just 2 million USD in 2014. For a very long time, the Japanese government and, the Central Bank remained sceptical about the idea of granting digital currencies a full and legitimate status. The situation changed when Facebook announced plans to issue its digital currency Libra and the People’s Republic of China authorities presented a strategy of introducing the Digital Currency Electronic Payment system. It seems that Japanese financial institutions, pressured by business circles, can no longer remain ignorant of the concept of introducing official digital currency. Please download the Policy Paper here.