The Financial Services Agency (FSA) — Japan’s principal financial regulator — has suggested several measures to protect users from “unlawful transfers” to crypto exchanges. One of which might seriously complicate the peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions market.
On Feb. 14, the FSA published a request addressed to Japanese banks. According to the regulator, the number of fraudulent transactions in the country remains high, and most involve crypto assets.
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Hence, the FSA and the National Police Agency (NPA) are encouraging banks to “further strengthen their user’s protection.” To achieve this, the FSA and NPA refer to several key initiatives.
One of them doesn’t reveal much, prescribing banks to “strengthen monitoring of unlawful transfers to crypto-asset exchange service providers.”
The other might significantly disrupt the P2P market. The regulator suggests:
“Stopping transfers to crypto-asset exchange service providers if the sender’s name is different from the account name.”
The Japanese version of the press release uses the verb reject, explaining that suspending such transfers should include individual and corporate accounts.
As users of P2P platforms know, the mechanics of such transactions imply that the names of the sender and receiver on the fiat and crypto ends of the transaction are always different. Hence, if Japanese banks reject any transactions from one individual’s bank account to another’s crypto wallet, that could seriously compromise the P2P market.
It should be noted that the current FSA request is written as a recommendation, and it doesn’t demand compliance with specific requirements but instead refers to initiatives. How exactly the banks will react to these recommendations and whether they will disrupt the P2P market remains to be seen. Cointelegraph reached out to the FSA for further clarification.
In December 2023, Japan’s government unveiled new tax reforms, which would save firms from paying taxes on “unrealized gains” from cryptocurrency holdings. However, the bill still needs to be approved by both chambers of the Japanese parliament, the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors.
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