# Japan

> Japan (FSA · JVCEA · Personal Information Protection Commission): Untraceability barred by self-regulation, now moving into ordinance. Region: Asia-Pacific. Restricts anonymity: Anonymity-enhancing assets or unattributed transfers are barred outright, or barred for regulated firms.

Part of the Soda Labs Privacy Hub regulation map, which reads the instruments
themselves rather than summarising the summaries: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation

## Key facts

- Entry type: Jurisdiction
- Region: Asia-Pacific
- Subject: Untraceability barred by self-regulation, now moving into ordinance
- Authority: FSA · JVCEA · Personal Information Protection Commission
- Stance on on-chain confidentiality: Restricts anonymity. Anonymity-enhancing assets or unattributed transfers are barred outright, or barred for regulated firms.
- Tags: traceability test, JVCEA Article 4(3), FIEA migration, ordinance-level detail
- Canonical page: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-japan

## What it actually says

Japan shows the pattern in this section at its clearest: the rule is written against untraceability, never against named assets. The industry body's handling rules have barred members since 2018 from dealing in any crypto asset whose transfer records cannot be traced or are markedly difficult to trace, which is why Monero, Zcash and Dash have been absent from Japanese venues for years without any instrument naming them. Legislation enacted in July 2026 moves crypto trading out of payments law and into the securities framework. Worth being precise about what that does to traceability: the statute bars assets failing user-protection standards, but the criteria, including transfer-record management, are delegated to Cabinet Office Ordinance and have not been written yet.

## The instruments that matter

- **JVCEA handling rules, Article 4(3), from 30 July 2018**: members must not handle a crypto asset whose transfer records cannot be traced or are markedly difficult to trace; the test is traceability, not the asset's name
- **Green List, updated 5 August 2026**: 30 assets, none of them Monero, Zcash or Dash; note this is a widely-handled list rather than the permitted universe, so absence is evidence and not proof of prohibition
- **FIEA migration enacted 15 July 2026**: moves crypto trading out of the Payment Services Act into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act as a product distinct from securities, creates crypto insider trading, and raises the unregistered-operator penalty to ten years
- **Amended FIEA Article 43-7**: bars handling assets failing user-protection standards, with the criteria (including transfer-record management) delegated to Cabinet Office Ordinance rather than set in the statute

## Sources

- [JVCEA Green List](https://jvcea.or.jp/statistics/document/greenlist/)
- [FSA bill materials, 221st Diet](https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/diet/221/02/03.pdf)

## Related entries

- [India](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-india): No crypto statute, regulated through AML and tax
- [South Korea](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-south-korea): Identity-maximalist, and exporting the model
- [Thailand](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-thailand): Closed by whitelist, not by prohibition
- [Australia](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-australia): Travel rule without a threshold, no coin ban
- [Hong Kong SAR](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-hong-kong): Retail exclusion by liquidity gate, not by anonymity rule
- [Singapore](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-singapore): Regulates anonymity by risk assessment, not prohibition