Japanese Regulator FSA Supports the Growth of Crypto Industry Under ‘Appropriate Regulations’

Japan, the largest cryptocurrency market on the globe in terms of trading volumes, is battling with establishing sound regulations in the country. The Japanese government and its regulatory agencies have been seen working in close coordination to ensure a fair market-play and safety for its investors in this extremely volatile cryptocurrency space.

According to the latest report from Reuters on Wednesday, August 22, Toshihide Endo, commissioner of the Japanese securities watchdog Financial Services Agency (FSA), said that his agency is doing every bit to maintain and effective balance between protecting the investor’s interest while simultaneously ensuring that they are not hindering innovation in the crypto and blockchain space.

Commissioner Endo said: "We have no intention to curb [the cryptocurrency industry] excessively We would like to see it grow under appropriate regulation.”

In addition, the FSA has also been seen taking several positive steps towards regulating the crypto market. Last month in July, the regulatory watchdog said that it wants to shift the legal basis for crypto exchange regulations from the existing Payment Services Act to the the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA).

After a crackdown on the cryptocurrency exchanges in June, the Japanese FSA published the results of its inspection done on a number of trading platforms while giving ultimate priority to investor protection.

The agency has doubled-down its scrutiny into exchange for obtaining official licenses to operate in the country. The exchanges have also been asked to stay ready for on-site inspections as well as transparently reveal their business model.

The FSA also notes that exchanges have not been able to keep up speed of developing their own robust internal control systems along with the rapidly growing transaction volumes on their platform. The agency also highlights concerns over insufficient anti-money laundering (AML) measures taken by exchanges.