The Japanese government plans to amend the law to regulate trading based on undisclosed insider information by classifying virtual currencies as financial products.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 31st, the Financial Services Agency of Japan plans to submit a bill to amend the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act to the Diet in 2026. The Financial Instruments and Exchange Act regulates unfair trading of securities such as stocks and bonds.
However, the Financial Services Agency plans to classify virtual currencies as a different type of financial product from securities and add them to the scope of regulation. In this regard, the agency has been holding expert meetings since October last year and intends to review the details at the Financial System Council, an advisory body to the Prime Minister, starting this summer.
As of January, the number of virtual currency trading accounts in Japan was approximately 7.34 million, about 3.6 times higher than five years ago. Nikkei reported, "The European Union (EU) regulates insider trading of virtual currencies under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)," and "The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) also recommended in 2023 that countries apply insider trading regulations to virtual currencies."
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