# Introduction
Japan is a major player in the world of cryptocurrency. With its cutting edge technology, innovative financial infrastructure and large population of tech-savvy citizens, Japan has become one of the most attractive markets for cryptocurrency investment. This guide will provide an overview of Japan’s regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies, as well as highlight some current trends and popular exchanges.
# Regulations
Japan is one of the few countries that have put in place comprehensive laws regulating cryptocurrencies. In April 2017, Japan officially recognized bitcoin and other digital currencies as legal tender under its Payment Services Act. The law requires companies dealing with virtual currency to register with Financial Services Agency (FSA). It also sets strict security requirements for user accounts such as two-factor authentication and cold storage measures for customer funds held by exchanges. Additionally, it bans anonymous trading on exchanges and requires them to perform anti-money laundering checks on customers before opening an account or executing trades.
In addition to this regulatory framework, Japanese authorities have been proactive in tackling any attempts at money laundering through cryptocurrencies. For example, earlier this year they fined seven crypto exchanges over $5 million dollars combined due to their inadequate anti-money laundering protocols which failed to properly monitor customers’ activities or report suspicious transactions in a timely manner according to the FSA guidelines set forth previously mentioned above..
# Current Trends & Popular Exchanges
Recently there has been increased interest from institutional investors looking into investing into cryptos based out of japan due to recent government regulation changes allowing them do so more securely than ever before creating a surge demand within the market leading many people speculate about possible new investments coming out soon from established players like SoftBank Group Corp., Nomura Holdings Inc., Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., etc . Aside from these larger investors buying up much cryptos there are still plenty individual investors who prefer using traditional japanese crypto exchange platforms like BitFlyer , Coincheck , Quoinex , DeCurret , Zaif etc . All these aforementioned platforms offer various services ranging from spot trading living up margin/leverage trading depending upon your needs/strategy .
