Taro Aso, the Minister of Finance of Japan, said the security standards of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges will be raised, which means the authorities might be preparing measures to regulate the trading of cryptocurrencies and the cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.
Aso said the authorities in charge of the financial security in Japan will revise the cryptocurrency exchanges and pay special attention to the security controls of their systems, updating the management of these systems in the process.
The Minister’s opinion is shared by the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan. The agency confirmed it was already monitoring the cryptocurrency traders in order to improve the level of security and protect the users on the cryptocurrency market in the country.
One of the causes for these new measure might be the recent hacker attack on the cryptocurrency exchange called Coincheck, when 530 million dollars in the cryptocurrency XEM were robbed. According to Long Wong, the founder of NEM, a blockchain platform behind XEM, consider that theft to be the biggest robbery in the world.
The Minister Taso pointed out the need for improved security of the cryptocurrency market and said he will promote a balance between the support of the innovative technologies by the Japanese government and the protection of the users of the cryptocurrency exchanges. Taso said: “The Financial Services Agency (FSA) should monitor adequately the cryptocurrency traders in order to protect the users. We will weigh well the balance between the promotion of innovations and the protection of the users of the cryptocurrency exchanges.”
On the other hand, Masatsugu Asakawa, the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs in the Ministry of Finance of Japan, said the cryptocurrency regulations will most probably be in the agenda of the next G20 meeting which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March this year. The meeting is a good opportunity to discuss the cryptocurrencies and regulations towards them, because representatives from numerous central banks and ministers of finance will be present.
The Japanese cryptocurrency market keeps bringing benefits to bitcoin, due to the involvement of the business sector on the cryptocurrency market. Japan keeps its position at the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem.
