Japan Crypto Exchange Ecosystem is Strengtening as Regulator Boosts Personnel

Japanese Regulator Adds Personnel To Review Approval of Crypto Exchange Licenses

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has decided to expand its team of currently 30 individuals to screen license application from crypto exchanges faster as mainstream companies are slowly entering this promising market.

Some giant companies like LINE, Yahoo and Rakuten are showing interest in becoming a part of this new market, so there is a lot of money to made from this niche in Japan, which already has a great acceptance rate for cryptos among the population.

The vice commissioner of the FSA, Kiyotaka Sasaki, has recently affirmed that the biggest problem that the agency has right now is that many companies want licenses and it is hard to review them all in an acceptable time frame.

Local media outlets report that there is an excess of more than 160 applications from companies in this market only and that the company will hire 12 additional members for the team. They deal with unregistered operators, licensing process and reviewing applications.

The Japanese Love Cryptos

According to the statistics of the FSA, there are 3.5 active crypto traders in Japan. In Bitcoin alone, they moved $97 billion USD in 2017. Other tokens like Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) are also among the most traded tokens in the country.

Japan was quick to regulate cryptos on the country and all exchanges, both foreign and local, need to be licensed from the Financial Services Agency to act legally in the country. This was mainly done to protect the investors, as cryptos are growing fast in Japan and there are a lot of aspects that have to set straight for the market to function properly.

FSA Rules Out Excessive Regulation

After a $530 million USD hack on Coincheck, the FSA is scrutinizing the sector more and more the exchanges and have even rejected some licenses. However, the spokesperson from the company denies that there is a move for excessive regulation, as the FSA intends to back the blockchain industry to grow in Japan.

The new commissioner of the FSA, Toshihide Endo, has often affirmed that they want the industry to grow with appropriate regulation but will ensure that there is not too much regulation.