Japan's FSA Outlines Dual-Track Strategy for Digital Assets: Investor Protection and Financial Infrastructure

Gate News message, April 26 — Japan’s Financial Services Agency is pursuing a two-pronged approach to digital asset regulation, balancing investor protection with infrastructure innovation, according to remarks by Shigeru Shimizu, Head of Risk Analysis at the FSA, delivered April 21 at a Blockchain Promotion Consortium (BCCC) event in Tokyo.

On the defensive side, the FSA has submitted amendments to parliament to transfer digital asset regulation from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, positioning digital assets as a distinct category of financial products. The amendments strengthen protections for the estimated 14 million digital asset account holders in Japan, including enhanced oversight of unregistered operators, improved information disclosure requirements, stricter exchange regulations, and new rules against insider trading and market manipulation.

On the offensive side, the FSA is advancing three major infrastructure initiatives: yen-based stablecoin development (including joint issuance experiments by Japan’s three megabanks and planned offerings by SBI Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank), tokenized deposits (being piloted by GMO Aozora Bank and Yucho Bank), and tokenization of financial products including repo trading—short-term secured lending arrangements critical to institutional funding. Shimizu highlighted that tokenized repo trading on blockchain could enable efficient 24/7 settlement across time zones, potentially linking Japanese markets with U.S. and European counterparts.

Three pilot projects under the FSA’s Fintech Proof-of-Concept Hub and Payment Advancement Project (PIP) exemplify this vision: yen stablecoin joint issuance by megabanks, on-chain securities settlement, and multi-bank tokenized deposit transfers. Shimizu noted that round-the-clock securities trading and settlement could attract international investors and strengthen Japan’s capital market competitiveness. The FSA’s framework demonstrates that blockchain and tokenization are being positioned not merely as regulatory subjects but as core infrastructure for next-generation finance.