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Karan Kapoor · September 25, 2017 · 1:00 pm

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After Chinese regulatory authorities cracked down on Bitcoin trading in the country, Japans Financial Services

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After Chinese regulatory authorities cracked down on Bitcoin trading in the country, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has announced that they will begin to closely monitor cryptocurrency exchanges.

Consequences Of China’s Ban

China’s decision to ban ICOs and Bitcoin Exchanges earlier this month resulted in the migration of many traders to Japanese and South Korean markets. This made Japan the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange market and proved the old adage ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ true. It makes sense for Japanese regulators to adopt a more cautious approach towards the world of cryptocurrencies as the country has been involved in its fair share of cryptocurrency frauds. 

According to local reports, Japan had fallen victim to 33 cases of cryptocurrency fraud worth over a staggering $700,000 in the first seven months of 2017. Previously, in 2014, Mt. Gox had closed shop following 650,000 Bitcoins being stolen from customer accounts which prompted Japanese lawmakers to push for more stringent regulation of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Exchanges Under Increased Scrutiny

Japan’s regulatory body, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), had established a surveillance team of 30 officials from the agency and local finance bureau last month. The FSA will assess whether these exchanges have appropriate internal systems, including ones to protect customer assets. The agency will even carry out on-site inspections if necessary.

An FSA executive said:

We pursue both market fostering and regulation enforcement. We aim for sound market development.

The 30 member team is in charge of analyzing whether these cryptocurrency exchanges properly manage customer assets separately from their own assets, as well as whether appropriate risk management measures are set up in place to ensure safety in case of cyber attacks, among others. Consequently, all Japanese exchanges are now required to register with authorities before October under the revised payment services law that went into effect in April.

What This Means for the Crypto Community

While it may seem to some that this increased scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges comes as bad news for the crypto-community, the truth is far more complex. China’s crackdown on Bitcoin may have temporarily led to a correction in its price, but Bitcoin has rallied since and now hovers close to the $4000 mark. This goes to show that no matter how large one country is, it cannot sink the cryptocurrency.

The abuse of ICOs by fraudsters has been rampant ever since this novel way of fund-raising became a rage, and measures need to be put in place to safeguard against such abuse. Not only will close monitoring of exchanges help against abuse, but they will also help reduce price volatility. Bitcoin itself has alternated four or five times this year from soaring to all-time highs to plummeting for sharp corrections. The next stage of Bitcoin’s growth needs to see an increase in its adoption; some stability would go a long way in assuaging fears regarding this new financial technology.

What do you think about Japanese regulators’ decision to monitor exchanges closely? Do you think it will be detrimental or beneficial to cryptos in the long term? Will Bitcoin rally to $5000 by the year end? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Twitter, Wikimedia Commons

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