In today's announcement, the regulator confirmed the action that follows the amendment to the law on payment services, according to which all exchanges of cryptocurrencies are registered with the authorities before the end of September. Adopted in April, the new law established bitcoin as a method of legal payment and extrapolated security rules for the exchange of cryptocurrencies.
The licensing provides certain operational requirements for exchanges, including high standards of cybersecurity, the segregation of customer accounts and verification of customer identification data. Seventeen applications are still in sight, and 12 firms have closed their doors in the light of the new rules.
Japan is uniquely proactive in its cryptocurrency regulations. Lawmakers earlier have claimed that this was caused by the now-notorious collapse of local bitcoin exchange Mt Gox in 2014, which led to the loss of millions of dollars in customer funds.
This news comes at a time of normative changes in the wider cryptocurrency landscape. Earlier this month, China issued a complete ban on fundraising methods related to the sale of tokens or initial coin offerings (ICOs), and local cryptocurrency exchanges have indicated that after the ban they would cease domestic trade.
South Korea has also stated that ICOs are illegal to date, and it also is tightening the rules for exchanges.
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