Japan calls for financial regulation on virtual assets... "US should join too"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Japan's Financial Services Agency has expressed the opinion that the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market should be strictly regulated like traditional finance. Along with this opinion, governments of countries such as the United States and the European Union (EU) are urging participation in such regulations, raising interest in whether this will become another constraint on the virtual asset market, which is already facing a cold wave.

The regulatory remarks from Japan came from Mamoru Yanase, Deputy Director of the Strategy Development Management Bureau at Japan's Financial Services Agency, in an interview with Bloomberg on the 17th. He emphasized, "The virtual asset market has grown tremendously. To implement effective regulation, it must be regulated in the same way as traditional finance is regulated and supervised."

In particular, he explained that the recent FTX incident has strengthened the need for investor protection and regulation. Deputy Director Yanase criticized, "The recent FTX scandal was not caused by virtual asset technology," adding, "It was a situation created by loose governance, weak internal controls, and the absence of regulation and supervision."

He also stated that Japanese regulatory authorities are currently urging supervision of virtual asset regulations in other regions such as the United States and Europe. Yanase said, "We are conveying the opinion to trading partners in the US, Europe, and other regions that virtual asset exchanges should be regulated like other intermediaries," and added, "Strong governance, internal controls, audits, and other measures must be required to protect consumers and prevent money laundering."

Furthermore, he added, "It may be necessary to create a multinational resolution system to address failures when large virtual asset companies go out of business."

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced plans to strengthen crackdowns on virtual asset companies, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore's central bank, is pushing plans to make it difficult for individual investors to enter the digital asset market to curb cryptocurrency speculation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.