Lower Entry Barriers: New intermediary system eliminates traditional exchange license requirements, enabling innovation-focused enterprises to enter Japan’s crypto market easily.
Enhanced Asset Protection: Mandatory segregation rules and domestic asset retention orders prevent FTX-style cross-border losses while rebuilding investor confidence systematically.
Market Leadership Position: Japan transforms from regulatory testing ground into Asia-Pacific crypto hub, attracting institutional investments worth $40 billion by 2026.
Japan introduces revolutionary crypto intermediary regulations on June 9, 2025, lowering market barriers while strengthening user protections following FTX collapse lessons.
POLICY BACKGROUND: FROM FTX CRISIS TO REGULATORY UPGRADE
On June 9, 2025, Japan’s House of Councillors officially passed amendments to the Payment Services Act, marking the comprehensive implementation of the “New Crypto Asset Intermediary System” that had been developing for nearly two years. Moreover, this policy’s emergence closely relates to the global trust crisis triggered by FTX’s bankruptcy in 202 At that time, Japan stood as one of the world’s earliest countries to regulate cryptocurrencies (through the 2017 Payment Services Act). However, despite establishing an exchange licensing system, the FTX incident still exposed vulnerabilities including cross-border asset losses and insufficient user protection mechanisms.
Consequently, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) launched systematic reforms starting in 2024, targeting two major pain points: reducing market entry barriers to stimulate competition and strengthening user asset protection to rebuild trust. Furthermore, the new system’s implementation represents not only Japan’s self-renewal of its domestic market but also serves as Asia’s crypto regulatory “barometer.”
CORE CONTENT OF THE NEW SYSTEM
Dramatically Reduced Entry Barriers for Intermediary Business
The new system first clearly defines “crypto asset intermediary business” as independent from traditional exchanges. Additionally, companies can now conduct matching transaction services without meeting strict exchange licensing requirements. Specific rules include:
“Affiliation System” Operating Model: Intermediary institutions must affiliate with licensed exchanges, handling only buy-sell matching without asset custody and settlement responsibilities.
Streamlined Compliance Obligations: Companies receive exemptions from direct anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities while facing reduced capital requirements, thereby attracting small and medium-sized innovative enterprises.
Compressed Transaction Costs: Intermediary institutions can reduce trading friction through optimized matching algorithms, with spot trading fees expected to decrease by 30%-50%.
This transformation directly breaks the monopolistic structure of Japan’s crypto market dominated by Coincheck, bitFlyer, and other leading exchanges. Furthermore, it provides compliance pathways for emerging sectors like DeFi protocols and social trading platforms.
Asset Segregation and “Domestic Retention Orders” as Double Insurance
To prevent FTX-style risks, new regulations introduce two core protection mechanisms:
Mandatory User Asset Segregation: Exchanges must completely separate customer assets from proprietary funds, prioritizing user returns during bankruptcy proceedings.
Domestic Asset Retention Orders: The government gains authority to require companies to keep crypto asset reserves within Japan’s borders, preventing cross-border transfers that could harm creditor interests.
Data shows Japanese exchanges’ Bitcoin holdings dropped from 450,000 coins in 2022 to fewer than 200,000 in 2025, indicating significant asset outflow trends. Through legal enforcement, new regulations reverse this situation, earning industry recognition as “crypto-version foreign exchange controls.”
Stablecoin Rules Align with International Standards
Regarding stablecoin issuers, new regulations allow 50% of reserve assets to be allocated to short-term government bonds and term deposits (previously requiring 100% cash reserves). While ensuring liquidity, this change improves yield rates by 5%-2%. Consequently, Japan aligns with US-European regulatory standards, helping domestic stablecoins (like GMO’s GYEN) expand market share. Currently, Japanese stablecoin trading volume accounts for 37% of the Asia-Pacific region, with policy benefits potentially pushing this toward 50%.
MARKET IMPACT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES COEXIST
Short-term Effects: Small and Medium Institutions Enter Explosive Growth Window
During the new system’s first week, 32 intermediary institutions submitted registration applications, including emerging companies like social investment platform Traders Union and AI quantitative service provider Alpaca Japan. Market analysis identifies three major opportunities arising from intermediary business:
Traffic Aggregation Platforms: Integrating liquidity from multiple exchanges while providing optimal pricing.
Customized Trading Tools: Algorithm trading and tax compliance suites targeting institutional investors.
Cross-border Matching Services: Connecting Southeast Asian retail investors with Japanese institutional investors.
Long-term Trends: Japan Becomes Asia’s Crypto Hub
According to Nomura Securities predictions, the new system will triple Japan’s crypto market participants by 2026, reaching 12 million people and driving related industry scale beyond $40 billion. Policy advantages combined with yen depreciation expectations attract institutional investors from Hong Kong and Singapore to accelerate Japanese market positioning. For example, HashKey Capital established a Tokyo branch in May 2025, focusing on investments in compliant intermediary institutions.
Hidden Challenges: Regulatory Arbitrage and Competitive Imbalance
Despite policy intentions to promote fair competition, some practitioners identify potential risks:
Power Struggles Between Exchanges and Intermediaries: Licensed exchanges might limit intermediary institution business scope through “affiliation systems.”
Cross-border Regulatory Blind Spots: Intermediary institutions facilitating overseas user transactions with Japanese exchanges could trigger jurisdictional disputes.
Technical Compliance Costs: Real-time asset segregation monitoring and transaction data reporting requirements pressure small and medium institutions’ IT systems.
INDUSTRY RESPONSE: DUAL PATHWAYS OF INNOVATION AND COMPLIANCE
Facing new policies, Japanese companies pursue breakthroughs through two main directions:
Technology Front: Institutions like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group develop “Compliance-as-a-Service” platforms, providing intermediary institutions with on-chain asset tracking and risk warning tools.
Product Front: Exchange Liquid launches “Intermediary Partner Programs,” opening API interfaces and sharing liquidity pools to reduce small institution access barriers.
Notably, Web3 security company Beosin has customized smart contract audit solutions for the Japanese market, helping intermediary institutions embed KYC verification and anti-fraud modules into matching transactions. Such technical adaptations may become key competitive factors in the next phase.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: JAPAN’S SAMPLE FOR GLOBAL REGULATION
Japan’s reform essentially seeks balance between “market liberalization” and “risk controllability.” Its policy design offers three insights for other countries:
Tiered Regulation: Setting differentiated compliance requirements based on business risk levels, avoiding “one-size-fits-all” approaches that stifle innovation.
Sovereign Defense: Using tools like domestic asset retention orders to maintain financial sovereignty while preventing cross-border capital shocks.
Dynamic Iteration: Reserving regulatory sandbox mechanisms for new formats like stablecoin yield adjustments and DAO-type intermediary institutions.
As regulatory dividends release, Japan transforms from “regulatory testing ground” into “innovation incubator.” In Q3 2025, multiple zaibatsu including Sumitomo Mitsui plan to launch crypto asset funds, further consolidating their Asia-Pacific market leadership position. This policy-driven transformation may redefine global crypto ecosystem competitive rules.
〈Japan’s New Crypto Asset Intermediary System: Market Transformation Milestone〉這篇文章最早發佈於《CoinRank》。
