Japanese FSA Elaborates on Cryptocurrency Transition Framework to the FIEA, Simultaneously Advances Three Stablecoin Settlement Pilot Projects

BlockBeats News, at the 9th BCCC Collaborative Day held on April 21st, Shigetomo Shimizu, Director of the Risk Analysis Division of the Integrated Policy Bureau of the Japan Financial Services Agency, revealed that a bill has been submitted to the special Diet that includes transferring cryptocurrency from the "Fund Settlement Act" to the "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act" (FIEA). This move aims to enhance user protection, with key measures including whether the issuer has disclosed information, establishing a new category for "cryptocurrency exchange businesses," increasing penalties for unlicensed entities, strengthening enforcement, and introducing regulations on insider trading and a penalty system.

In addition, as part of the "Payment Interface Project (PIP)" launched by the Japan Financial Services Agency in November last year, three ongoing proof-of-concept experiments are being conducted: first, a joint issuance of a yen stablecoin involving three major banks to test the efficiency of cross-border settlements for large trading companies; second, on-chain securities settlement, recording the transfer of rights such as government bonds and stocks on the blockchain using a transfer system synchronized with existing laws, enabling cash and securities settlement in sync through stablecoin payments, with the goal of achieving 24/7 continuous trading and settlement; third, tokenized interbank deposits, establishing a mechanism for transferring tokenized deposits between different banks and linking them with the Bank of Japan's "Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Experiment."