Japan's upper house committee just approved the crypto-as-financial-instrument

Japan upper house committee approved reclassifying crypto under the FIEA, the same law that governs stocks and bonds, moving it out of the payment services act. the full floor vote is still coming but with the LDP controlling both chambers it's expected to pass easily

cabinet approved the draft in april, lower house passed it in june, and now this and once in effect, crypto tax drops from a progressive rate topping out near 55% to a flat 20%, though that piece runs on a separate timeline and doesn't kick in until 2028. the FIEA reclassification itself targets fiscal 2027 and clears the legal path for spot crypto ETFs on the TSE, with listings realistically landing in late 2027 or 2028

It also brings new insider trading bans, mandatory annual disclosures for issuers, and stiffer penalties for unlicensed operators, up to 10 years and ¥10M in fines versus the current 3 year max

Japan has over 13 million crypto accounts and its high tax rate has long been blamed for weak trading volume relative to its tech adoption