Japan FSA Launches Crypto Division as Penalties Rise to 10 Years

Japan's Financial Services Agency is consolidating its scattered crypto oversight into a single unit. The new Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division goes live on Friday, Aug. 7, two days after the FSA announced its creation on Aug. 5.

The division absorbs the existing Cryptocurrency Monitoring Office and adds two new units: an Innovation Promotion Office and a Digital Payment Planning Office. Previously, crypto regulation sat across multiple FSA desks, each handling a slice without a unified playbook.

The restructuring runs alongside legal changes. Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act now reclassifies crypto assets as financial instruments, a shift that triggers insider trading rules, disclosure requirements, and compliance obligations that did not apply to digital asset markets before.

Enforcement is getting teeth, too. Maximum penalties for running an unregistered crypto operation now reach 10 years in prison and fines of up to 10 million yen. The FSA has already been pressing exchanges on registration status; Bitget, a major global exchange, ceased operations in Japan recently after facing pressure.