Taro Aso, Japan’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, has stated that the newly coined legal term ‘crypto assets’ should be used instead of ‘virtual currencies.’
The statement was made to the press by Aso, who also acts as Minister of State for Financial Services, during a Q&A session at the end of the government’s cabinet meeting. A transcript of the Q&A, as well as its English translation, were provided on April 26th by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).
According to Cointelegraph Japan, the statement follows a draft amendment to Japan’s laws regarding financial services. The bill stipulates a change in the legal term for cryptocurrencies from ‘virtual currencies’ to ‘crypto assets.’ The change was approved by the cabinet in March.
However, the FSA remarked that ‘crypto assets’ is only a new legal definition, and industry stakeholders are not required to use the term.
In the Q&A session, Aso also discussed revised procedures of the FSA regarding its review process and registration of broker-dealers and exchanges in the crypto industry.
According to Aso, the financial regulator is strengthening its watch over potential hacks of crypto exchanges in order to prevent abuse and misuse of the technology by bad actors. This is to protect investors and encourage more trust in the industry.
Cointelegraph speculated that the new term proposed by the FSA is a means to help mitigate misunderstandings among traders, some of whom believe that virtual currencies constitute legal tender.
The latest amendments to Japan’s regulations for financial instruments and payment services, which will come into full effect in April next year, aim to restrict the leverage in crypto margin trading at double to quadruple the initial sum.
Source: cointelegraph.com
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