Japan reports 170% spike in crypto-related consumer inquiries in 2018

Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) has reported that it received an incessant number of queries related to cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to the report it submitted to the Cabinet Office, the year 2018 saw a 170% uptick in crypto-related queries.

The CAA revealed that most of the questions or concerns raised were regarding the crypto exchanges’ credibility and reliability, refund requests, security-related matters, anonymity concerns, login and payment processing technical difficulties, and inapproachable crypto-vendors.

Some 3,657 cases of consumer queries on crypto exchanges were recorded in 2018. While the year 2017 also showed an increased crypto-related queries growth rate, Cointelegraph Japan noted that the interest in digital money has not slowed down since 2014.

The CAA is the administrative authority of the Cabinet Office that is dedicated towards consumer welfare and protection. Although the Whitepaper on Consumer Affairs for 2018 was recently translated to English, the 2019 English version is yet to be released.

The analysis came after Japanese tax authorities plan to take action against entities underreporting their cryptocurrency-based profits, a move that will affect some 50 traders and 30 firms in the country that failed to declare cryptocurrency income worth more than 10 billion yen ($92.4 million).