Japan’s new crypto regulations move to upper house of National Diet

Japan’s House of Representatives on Tuesday submitted new crypto regulation in the upper house of the National Diet, called the House of Councillors, according to Nikkei.

The lower house passed amendments to two existing financial laws, namely, the Funds Settlement Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Both intend to enhance the local regulations of the cryptocurrency trading process.

The revisions will include changing the virtual currency’s term to “crypto assets” and adding a margin trading regulation.

The local news agency said that the lower house has moved crypto-related revisions to the current financial law to the upper house at a recent plenary session.

Japan is also strengthening its anti-money laundering countermeasures as it considers enacting new rules for bitcoin exchanges. The Financial Services Agency is cracking down on crypto exchanges with anonymous transactions or weak identity verification ahead of the inspection by the Financial Action Task Force this fall, CCN reported citing Nikkei Asian Review.

Just recently, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas has also proposed a new framework to regulate the issuance and sale of digital tokens to lure blockchain businesses and crypto investments to the island nation. The draft, entitled “Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Bill 2019” aims to regulate token offerings that are not deemed securities.