According to reports, Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), is planning to introduce legislation to restrict the issuance of stablecoins to banks and wire transfer companies. Encryption service providers involved in stablecoin transactions, including wallets, will also be subject to supervision by financial regulators.

Japan tightens regulation of stablecoins

Nikkei reported on Monday that the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan is planning to strengthen the supervision of stablecoins by imposing strict regulations on its issuers, noting:

The Financial Services Authority seeks to introduce legislation in 2022 to restrict the issuance of stablecoins to banks and wire transfer companies.

The publication added that the FSA will also strengthen regulations related to the prevention of money laundering, and pointed out that crypto service providers (including wallets) participating in stablecoin transactions will also be subject to supervision by financial regulators.

In addition, stablecoin issuers will be required to comply with Japan’s laws on preventing the transfer of criminal proceeds. This includes verifying user identities and reporting suspicious transactions.

total Market value At the time of writing, the amount in all stablecoins is close to 160 billion U.S. dollars. Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin in circulation, with a current market value of 76.58 billion U.S. dollars, based on data From the Bitcoin.com market.

Although Japan does not currently have laws regulating stablecoins, the FSA has established a team to study how to best ensure consumer protection and solve money laundering problems in this area. In September, Yuri Okina, a member of the panel, stated: “It is important that stablecoins are backed by safe and liquid assets. However, it is questionable whether it is the right approach to formulate a package of rules as strict as those currently applicable to banks.”

Japan is not the only country that plans to impose strict regulations on stablecoin issuers. In July, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (Janet Yellen) asked regulators that oversee U.S. crypto assets to “act quickly” adjust Stable currency. The President’s Financial Markets Working Group (PWG) subsequently recommended the implementation of bank-like supervision on stablecoin issuers.

However, not everyone agrees with this method of supervision. In November, Fed Governor Christopher Waller (Christopher Waller) debate Oppose the PWG’s suggestion. He explained that he agreed to allow banks to issue stablecoins, but did not agree to allow banks to issue only.

What do you think of Japan’s plan to only allow banks and wire transfer companies to issue stablecoins? Please let us know in the comments section below.

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