Japan’s Crypto Reform Moves Toward Final Vote

All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders.

Japan’s most extensive crypto-market reform has moved to its final parliamentary stage, with the House of Councillors scheduled to vote on legislation that would shift digital-asset trading from a payments-focused regime into the country’s principal investment-market law.

The official Diet record shows that the House of Councillors’ Committee on Financial Affairs approved the bill on July 14. Japan’s lower house had already passed it on June 11, leaving approval by the full upper chamber as the remaining parliamentary step.

TL;DR

Crypto Becomes an Investment Product, Not a Security

The reform would transfer the main rules governing crypto trading from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, reflecting the government’s view that digital assets are now held primarily for investment rather than payment.

That shift does not mean Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will automatically become securities. The Financial Services Agency’s official explanation states that crypto assets will remain a separate category of financial product, subject to rules tailored to their technical and market characteristics.

Registered crypto exchanges would be renamed crypto-asset trading businesses and placed under a framework comparable in several areas to Japan’s securities regime. Existing requirements covering custody, cold-wallet management and customer-asset protection would remain, while operators would face stronger controls over token listings, sales practices, outsourcing and market surveillance.

The law would also require exchanges to build reserves that can help compensate customers after unauthorized asset outflows. The precise reserve ratios, listing standards and operational requirements will be set later through cabinet orders and FSA regulations, meaning passage alone will not complete the new regime.

Token Disclosures Would Become a Legal Obligation

Issuers conducting public offerings of specified crypto assets would have to disclose information before a sale, including the token’s functionality, supply, underlying technology, business structure and financial position. Material developments would trigger additional notices, while issuers that raised capital through an offering would generally face annual reporting requirements.

The obligation is narrower than a universal reporting rule for every blockchain project. Bitcoin and other assets without a conventional issuer would instead be assessed and disclosed by the regulated exchange choosing to list them.

The framework also recognizes that a token can become sufficiently decentralized. An issuer may apply for an exemption from continuing disclosures when control over the network has dispersed, after which responsibility for providing relevant market information would move to the trading platform.

That distinction is important because Japan is not attempting to force decentralized protocols into a corporate reporting model indefinitely. The law instead assigns disclosure responsibility to whichever identifiable participant is best positioned to provide reliable information at each stage of a token’s development.

Japan Creates a Dedicated Crypto Insider-Trading Ban

The bill would prohibit trading on material non-public information involving crypto assets handled by licensed Japanese platforms. Covered information could include an exchange’s decision to list or delist a token, major events affecting an issuer and planned transactions involving unusually large portions of a crypto asset’s supply.

The restrictions would apply to issuers, exchange employees, parties preparing large transactions and people who receive confidential information from them. Sharing inside information or recommending a trade before disclosure would also be prohibited.

Violations could carry penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine of up to ¥5 million, alongside administrative financial penalties. Unregistered crypto operations would face a separate enforcement escalation, with the maximum prison term rising from three to ten years.

The tougher penalty addresses more than conventional exchange activity. Japan’s securities watchdog would gain stronger powers to investigate unlicensed platforms, fraudulent investment promotions and paid crypto recommendations that fail to disclose the promoter’s compensation.

The 20% Tax Rate Has Important Limits

Japan currently treats most individual crypto profits as miscellaneous income subject to progressive national and local taxation that can reach approximately 55%. The government’s 2026 tax reform plan would move qualifying gains to a separate 20% regime, consisting of 15% national income tax and 5% local tax, excluding the reconstruction surtax.

The lower rate would not automatically cover every wallet transaction, offshore trade or digital asset. It is designed for crypto assets handled by businesses regulated under the amended FIEA and for specified spot, derivatives and ETF transactions that meet the final statutory conditions.

Eligible losses could be carried forward for three years, allowing investors to offset future profits. The treatment would bring covered crypto activity closer to listed shares and regulated derivatives, but the government has not proposed adding crypto to Japan’s tax-free NISA investment accounts.

Timing also remains conditional. The FSA says the tax change would apply from January following the amended financial law’s commencement. Because the main crypto provisions are scheduled to take effect on a date set by the government within one year of promulgation, the precise tax start date depends on the final implementation calendar rather than parliamentary approval alone.

The Bill Opens an ETF Path but Does Not Finish It

Moving crypto into the FIEA removes a major conceptual obstacle to Japanese spot crypto funds, while the tax package already anticipates income from qualifying crypto ETFs receiving the same separate 20% treatment.

A domestic Bitcoin ETF cannot begin trading solely because this bill passes. The FSA states that Japan must separately amend the enforcement order under the Investment Trust and Investment Corporation Act before investment trusts can hold eligible crypto assets directly.

Fund managers would then need to design products, exchanges would have to approve listings and regulators would still assess custody, valuation, liquidity and investor-protection arrangements. Claims that the legislation has already legalized spot ETFs therefore overstate what the parliamentary vote accomplishes.

Implementation Will Determine the Commercial Impact

The reform gives Japan a securities-style framework for disclosures, market conduct and enforcement while preserving crypto as its own legal category. Its practical effect will depend on the secondary rules that determine which assets qualify for favorable taxation, how exchanges assess decentralization and what reserve or custody obligations operators must meet.

The strongest commercial catalyst may ultimately be the combination of those measures rather than reclassification alone. A 20% tax rate could reduce the incentive for Japanese investors to trade through offshore venues, while regulated ETFs would provide access through existing brokerage and fund infrastructure.

Japan’s regulatory shift is already being accompanied by private-sector stablecoin experiments. JCB recently signed an agreement with Circle to test USDC for internal cross-border treasury transfers and separately explore stablecoin payments at Japanese merchants, extending the country’s digital-asset push beyond trading and investment products.

Similar infrastructure is emerging internationally. BNY has added native USDC mint and redemption capabilities to its Digital Asset Custody platform, allowing institutional clients to handle conversion, custody and transfers through a single regulated interface. The development shows the type of banking infrastructure Japanese institutions may increasingly expect as the new framework takes effect.

Neither outcome is complete at the parliamentary stage. Final upper-house approval would establish the legal foundation; cabinet orders, FSA regulations and the separate investment-fund amendment will decide how much of Japan’s crypto market can actually move into the new framework.