Japan’s cabinet approved a bill to classify cryptocurrencies as financial products, moving Bitcoin and Ethereum under securities-style regulation. The change shifts crypto from payment instruments to investment assets, introduces insider trading bans, and aims to boost institutional participation in the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Japan Officially Reclassifies Crypto Under Financial Instruments

For years, Japan treated crypto the same way it treated payment apps useful for sending money, but nothing more serious than that. That era is now over. 

The cabinet officially approved a bill on April 10, 2026 to bring cryptocurrencies under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the same law that governs Japan’s stock and bond…