Japanese Government Considers Relaxing Strict Coin Listing Rules

Japanese government is considering a proposal that would make it easier for registered cryptocurrency exchanges to list digital assets in the domestic retail trading market.

According to sources cited by Bloomerg, if the new rules are passed, exchanges that have registered with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) will be able to list specific assets without going through a lengthy screening process.

What You Need To Know:

Digital assets that have been listed on at least three domestic exchanges for more than six months would be exempt from additional screening.

If the proposal is approved, exchanges will find it easier to list Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

A final decision on the rule change has not yet been made.

Current listing rules necessitate that prospective coins go through an extensive screening process that can take up to six months to complete.

READ ALSO: How To Weather The Storm Hitting Crypto and US Stock Markets?

Members of the Japan Virtual and Crypto Exchange Association (JVCEA) have complained that the stringent screening process has prevented Japan’s $1 trillion crypto industry from expanding significantly.

Members of the JVCEA have reportedly argued that changing the existing rules to allow for faster processing could increase Japanese participation in global cryptocurrency markets.

Coincheck and GMO Coin currently have 17 listed coins each, making them the largest exchanges in Japan in terms of number of listings.

Japanese exchanges have lagged far behind global exchanges, which have hundreds of coins listed, as in the case of top exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

The proposed rules come at an interesting time, as Coinbase and FTX have both entered the competitive Japanese crypto market through subsidiaries that have registered crypto exchanges.

Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s exchange acquired Liquid Group, the operator of the Japanese-registered Quoine crypto exchange, on February 2.

Quoine plans to “integrate FTX’s existing products and services into its own offerings” in the future.

Coinbase partnered with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) in August to open a branch of its exchange.

The MUFG partnership provides users with a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp..