Editor's Note: This article comes from01 Blockchain (ID: Binary010101), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
01 Blockchain (ID: Binary010101)
01 Blockchain (ID: Binary010101)
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization. Japan is one of the few countries in the world that provides legal protection for digital assets. On May 25, 2016, the Japanese cabinet signed an amendment to the "Fund Settlement Law", bringing digital currency into the legal regulatory system and recognizing Bitcoin as a legal means of payment. The bill came into effect on April 1, 2017, and is of great significance in the regulation of global digital assets. At the same time, Japan is also formulating regulatory mechanisms and legal systems for blockchain and digital currencies. The Japanese Financial Services Agency is responsible for the supervision of the Japanese digital currency market, and stipulates that digital currency exchanges need to apply for licenses to operate in compliance. In September 2019, the Digital Currency Exchange Industry Association under the Financial Services Agency of Japan promulgated the "Rules Related to New Coin Offerings" and the supporting "Guidelines on Rules Related to New Coin Offerings", which further strengthened the regulatory norms of digital currencies. On March 2, 01 Finance, 01 Think Tank, and Digital Asset Research Institute jointly held a closed-door seminar themed on "Frontiers of Japan's Blockchain Policy" to discuss the development and challenges of Japan's blockchain and digital currency supervision. question. After the keynote speeches by the four guests, the participants and guests had a lively discussion on Japan's regulations on exchanges, Japan's STO regulation and practice, and Japan's blockchain-enabled real industry issues. At the end of the meeting, Bai Liang said that judging from Japan's practice and the information exchanged on the spot, there are still many problems in the integration and connection between the regulatory concept of traditional capital markets and the exploration of new digital assets and digital capital markets; It is difficult to comply with the operating rules of the traditional capital market while allowing the development and innovation of new assets while taking into account the protection of investment consumers, but it is also crucial to promote the healthy development of the new market at present. There are still many issues that deserve our continuous attention, discussion and research. secondary title Yang Yang introduced that in recent years, Japan’s regulation in the field of blockchain and digital currency has become more stringent. In addition to the "Fund Settlement Law" implemented in 2017, the Cryptocurrency Exchange Industry Association under the Financial Services Agency of Japan promulgated the "Regulations Related to the New Currency Offering" and the supporting "Guidance on the Relevant Rules of the New Currency Offering" in September 2019. Guidelines”, allowing public issuance and sale of tokens for financing (IEO and ICO). Japan has not yet made strict regulations on the location of the digital currency financing subject, the nature of the company, etc., and does not require that it must be issued through the blockchain network. However, the issue of financing asset management is very strict. If it is legal currency, either open a separate account in the bank in the name of financing assets, or hand it over to a third-party trust company for management. If it is a digital currency such as Bitcoin, it also needs to be separated from other digital assets and managed with a cold wallet. Yang Yang introduced that due to the many incidents of exchange thefts before, Japan now has very strict regulations on digital currency. The issuance and transaction process of digital currency must be carried out under supervision, and the overall trend is becoming more transparent and compliant. secondary title Yoshida Expo mainly introduced the status quo of the Japanese digital currency trading market and the problems encountered in the actual operation. Yoshida Shibo said that Japan is one of the few countries in the world that has set up compliance licenses specifically for digital currency exchanges, and Japan's digital currency market is also a relatively special existence in the world. The overall transaction scale and number of participants in the Japanese market may be second only to China and the United States, but spot transactions only account for 18% of the Japanese digital currency market, and the remaining 82% are leveraged transactions, most of which are BTC leveraged transactions. This has also led to the trading model of Japanese digital currency exchanges mainly based on BTC leveraged trading, so the issuance and financing of new coins, whether it is ICO or IEO, may have limited short-term impact on the Japanese market. Expo Yoshida elaborated on the regulatory standards of the Japan Digital Currency Exchange Association and the Japan Financial Services Agency and some pain points encountered in practical operations. In terms of digital currency auditing, Japan is very concerned about the issue of price rationality. The exchange or issuer needs to justify the retail price of the tokens it sells in a proper way. However, there is no clear solution on how to prove the rationality. Basically, an accounting firm issues a formal report to calculate the price of the new currency. This is also a problem with a high threshold encountered in the actual operation process. In addition to the evaluation of price rationality, Yoshida World Expo believes that communication problems with accounting firms and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the requirement to sell out tokens within a specified time, and secondary market liquidity problems are all problems in the issuance of Japanese digital currency. Difficult to solve short-term problems. secondary title Deng Jianpeng pointed out that Japan issued the payment service law in May 2016, requiring exchanges to hold licenses to operate, and formulated detailed regulatory rules for the entire Japanese digital currency market, which is different from China's regulatory policies for digital currencies. In addition, Japanese exchanges issue and underwrite new coins as a third party. If they do not sell new coins to Japanese residents at all, they do not need to obtain a digital currency trading license. Deng Jianpeng believes that if the digital currency-related risk spillover does not occur in the domestic market, the regulatory rules may be looser, but if the risk may occur in the local market, the rules will be stricter. However, the digital currency market is naturally globalized, and it is easy to make peer-to-peer payments to any country in the world after issuance. Therefore, whether it is meaningful to use such rules for supervision remains to be discussed. At the same time, Deng Jianpeng also affirmed the significance of the new regulation's emphasis on consumer rights protection. Stimulated by some extreme risk events in recent years, Chinese regulators have attached great importance to the rectification of Internet finance, focusing on achieving financial security. In contrast, the protection of consumer rights has not received sufficient attention. In this regard, Japan's series of regulatory rules and self-discipline regulations deserve our attention. As far as the digital currency market is concerned, the rights and interests of consumers in many domestic digital currency markets are at their own risk, and many disputes cannot be properly resolved. Therefore, the protection of consumer rights in Japan's new regulations is worthy of reference for other countries and regions. secondary title Yang Jinyan: Policies are innovative, but the process is more stringent Yang Jinyan shared his understanding of Japan's digital asset supervision and new regulations from five aspects. First, compared with the token safe harbor proposals of Japan and the US SEC, they have a lot in common. For example, both digital asset market regulatory frameworks strive to maintain a balance between encouraging innovation and protecting investors; Respond to the regulatory needs of the digital currency market.Deng Jianpeng, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Law of Central University of Finance and Economics, Yang Jinyan, assistant to the chairman of Huobi Group and doctor of law, Yoshida Shibo, CEO of Japanese digital currency consulting company HASHPORT, and Yang Yang, compliance officer of Huobi Japan Co., Ltd., shared at the closed-door meeting In order to understand the relevant situation and opinions, Bai Liang, the founder of Zero One Finance and executive vice president of the Digital Asset Research Institute, presided over the event and made a final speech.
Japan’s digital currency issuance financing is classified by the issuer: if the issuer is a licensed exchange, it is an ICO; if the project party issues through a licensed exchange, it is considered an IEO. The legal issuance of digital currency in Japan requires the supervision of the Japan Digital Currency Exchange Association and the Japan Financial Services Agency. To obtain compliant currency issuance financing in Japan, licensed exchanges need to submit a lot of materials to the Digital Currency Exchange Association and the Financial Services Agency, explaining or proving the business model of digital currency, the reliability of the main body, sales methods, publicity methods, and digital currency security Sexuality and price rationality, etc., and require regular disclosure of information to users, including the actual sales of digital currency, total issuance, actual use of financing, and other important changes. As for financing objects, the Japanese Financial Services Agency’s opinion is that it is best to focus on Japanese nationals. Going overseas will involve the confirmation of anti-money laundering and other national regulatory rules. Therefore, the Financial Services Agency does not recommend financing for overseas users, but it does not explicitly prohibit it.
In addition, due to the particularity of the market, the business model of Japanese digital currency exchanges is somewhat different from that of other countries. The main business model of international mainstream exchanges includes charging listing fees, transaction fees and other fees, but Japanese exchanges have two revenue models: one is the exchange model, and the other is to obtain revenue through leveraged transactions. Although the Japanese exchange model is different from other countries in the world, Yoshida Shibo also pointed out that the profitability of many digital currency exchanges in Japan is not particularly good.
Regarding the industry rules issued by the Japan Digital Asset Trading Association in September 2019, Deng Jianpeng believes that there is no clear penalty criterion, and they are basically flexible requirements, which is worthy of attention. Without strict sanctions or penalty clauses, this seemingly perfect system of rules and regulations may eventually become empty talk. Because if the law has no penalty clause, it is equivalent to having no teeth, and a law without teeth may not have any meaning.
