Overview
- The Financial Services Agency, which announced the change Tuesday, will treat certain foreign trust‑issued stablecoins as electronic payment instruments rather than securities starting June 1, 2026.
- Issuers must operate under laws judged equivalent to Japan’s banking or payment rules, stay under active supervision, and allow their regulators to share oversight information with the FSA.
- Reserves must be properly managed and independently audited, firms need tools to stop criminal misuse such as transaction suspensions, and the reserve currency must match the coin’s stated denomination.
- Approvals will be made case by case, with reviews focused on liquidity, credit risk, reliable redemption at par, and audit quality, so widely used coins overseas may still face limits in Japan.
- The ordinance follows a Feb. 3–Mar. 5 public comment period that drew 16 submissions, resolves uncertainty left by a 2022 law, and positions Japan alongside the EU’s MiCA and the US GENIUS Act as it seeks growth in digital payments and tokenized assets.