- Japan’s FSA rejects cryptocurrency futures citing increase stock speculation.
- ETF approval in Japan will be a game changer for the crypto and the traditional financial market.
The financial regulator in one of Asia’s significant economies, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is reported to be looking into the introduction of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This comes after the watchdog gave a blind to crypto futures contracts. As per the report published by Bloomberg, the regulator is inclined to licensing ETFs that help in tracking the asset class.
The cryptocurrency community in the country and region had to deal with the blow of not having Bitcoin or Ethereum futures. These class of assets encourages the participation of institutional investors especially at a time when the market had endured a year-long selloff. The situation is, however, likely to change if an ETF is approved. It will help to increase the confidence in the market owing to the fact that the country suffered an attack on an exchange losing at least $530 million.
Reports say that the FSA is exploring the ETF while measuring the industry’s interest in the asset class for tracking digital assets. Bloomberg wrote the report after being informed someone familiar with the FSA plans, who also requested anonymity in the matter. Japan’s regulator recently abandoned plans to revise the securities law that would have seen digital asset futures get listed on traditional stock exchanges citing increased stock speculation.
The FSA also gave the self-regulatory body more mandate to oversee the operations of the exchanges including the setting of the guidelines. On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States has not only rejected several proposals for BTC ETF, but it has also been pushing other proposals forward. Some experts say that an ETF in the US is not possible at the moment and could take up to 20 years. However, if Japan can move forward with the approval, the entire industry is bound to benefit in one way or the other as it will attract the attention of the stock market and institutional clients.
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