Japan’s slow crypto approvals stifle innovation, drive activity offshore
Japan’s regulatory environment for cryptocurrency is being criticized for stifling innovation and driving activity offshore, according to Maksym Sakharov, co-founder and CEO of Web3 firm WeFi. Sakharov argues that the nation’s “slow, prescriptive, and risk-averse” approval processes, rather than proposed tax changes, are the primary obstacles to crypto adoption. The two-step regulatory framework—initial review by the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) followed by the Financial Services Agency (FSA)—can delay market entry for projects by 6–12 months or longer [1]. This bureaucratic inertia, he claims, forces startups and liquidity providers to prioritize overseas listings, eroding Japan’s…
