New regulation in Japan requires bitcoin exchanges to register with Financial Services Agency
According to The Japan Times, a new law has been passed in Japan that will require bitcoin exchange operators to register with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in Japan, who will oversee the exchanges in order to help ensure better protection of users.
Under the revised law which should go into effect within a year, the FSA is authorized to conduct on-site inspections and issue administrative orders as needed. The law’s revision comes more than two years after Mt. Gox, a Tokyo based bitcoin exchange that collapsed in February 2014, taking many customer funds along with it. Mt. Gox creditors are claiming potentially trillions in funds lost on the exchange.
There are a few exchanges in Japan which have been operating with success post-Gox, such as Coincheck, Bitflyer, and Zaif. TechBureau, Zaif’s parent company, recently secured $6.2 million in venture capital to expand the exchange operations in Japan.
BitFlyer CEO Yuzo Kano told Bitcoin.com that although he couldn’t speak for all companies, he believed bitcoin exchanges operating in Japan were already compliant with the new laws. Kagayaki Kawabata of Coincheck said the laws were anticipated, but had come sooner than many expected.
