Japan to study legal regulation of Bitcoin

According to a report by Kyodo News on August 4, the Japanese government will impose legal controls on virtual currencies such as Bitcoin in order to prevent them from being used for money laundering and raising funds for terrorist organizations.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has begun a mandatory investigation into the disappearance of Bitcoin, and how to prevent illegal use remains to be solved. In the future, the exchange of virtual currency and cash will be studied to introduce a registration system or a licensing system.

The Ministry of Finance, the Financial Services Agency, the National Police Agency and other relevant ministries and agencies will coordinate and do not rule out the possibility of improving the law at the regular Diet next year. The main consideration will be to expand the scope of application of the "Criminal Proceeds Transfer Prevention Law" for combating money laundering, but it is also possible to amend the "Financial Products and Exchange Law" for protecting investors and establishing a fair market. The regulatory authority is expected to be the Financial Services Agency.

Japan's Finance Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso said at a press conference on the 4th regarding virtual currency control measures: "We must study the response methods."

The advantage of Bitcoin is that it can be exchanged for currencies such as the US dollar and the Japanese yen on online exchanges, and remittances can be made abroad with very low fees, but on the other hand, there is a risk of illegal use and abuse by criminal organizations.