Crypto enquiries in Japan continue to drop for the 5th quarter in a row

Asia • September 3, 2019, 6:05AM EDT
UPDATED: September 3, 2019, 7:12AM EDT
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Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country’s financial regulator, has been receiving fewer enquiries related to cryptocurrencies.

The FSA released statistics of its Counseling Office for Financial Services Users on Tuesday, saying that it received only 494 enquiries about crypto assets in the quarter ending June 30 as compared to 574 in the previous quarter and 788 in Dec. 2018 quarter.

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The figures are sharply down from 1,231 crypto enquiries in Sept. 2018 quarter, and 1,602 in June 2018 quarter. The regulator accepts general questions, consultations and opinions regarding financial products and services, and addresses them via a counselor.

The total number of investment enquiries, on the other hand, rose to 2,164 in the second quarter of the year as compared to 1,999 in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Looking at product-wise numbers, 406 (18%) enquiries were related to listed shares, 232 (10%) related to forex and 152 (7%) related to investment trusts. Others were general and miscellaneous queries.

Japan is one of the few countries with clear and strict cryptocurrency regulations. Back in 2017, the country passed a law that recognized bitcoin as a legal method of payment, as well as brought cryptocurrency exchanges under anti-money laundering (AML)/know-your-customer (KYC) rules.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.

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