Japan’s New FSA Chief Stands Firm on Crypto Regulation, Calls for Push on Digital Yen

The incoming chief of Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has expressed reluctance to soften rules governing cryptocurrencies.

• As Reuter's reported on Wednesday, Commissioner Ryozo Himino said the regulator was not considering taking "special steps" to promote cryptocurrency trading.
• Himino became the head of the FSA in July when he replaced the previous commissioner, Toshihide Endo.
• Deregulating crypto, he said, would not necessarily advance technical innovation but could increase "speculative" trading.
• Instead, Japan should focus on the viability of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that the country's central bank, the Bank of Japan, is currently exploring.
• In undertaking a CBDC, Japan would need to think "really hard" about whether to issue a digital currency based on the "merits and demerits" in doing so, he said.
• The coronavirus pandemic, the commissioner said, might prompt the faster arrival of a cashless society.

See also: Japanese Financial Giant MUFG to Launch Digital Currency in 2020