Deregulating Crypto Could Surge Speculative Trading, Says Japanese Regulator

Several believe that regulations could hinder innovations and growth, a top Japanese regulator suggests otherwise. While stressing on the importance of regulations, he elaborates on the development of the Japanese CBDC. 

Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC] is the latest concept of interest in several countries. China has undoubtedly taken a lead in this as the country has already begun publicly testing its CBDC, the digital yuan. While other countries have been jumping the bandwagon and exploring the prospects of CBDCs, Japan’s top financial regulator asserted his stance on developing the digital yen.

Recently, replacing Toshihide Endo, Ryozo Himino took over as the Japanese Financial Services Agency’s Commissioner. In a recent interview with Reuters, Himino highlighted how the Japanese central bank should probe the challenges that could come with the roll-out of CBDCs. He added,

“In the end, Japan must think really hard about whether to issue CBDCs because there are merits and demerits to doing so. What it can do now is to be ready so that when Japan decides to issue CBDCs, it can do so straight away.”

Japan seems to have accelerated the process of issuing its CBDC after the inclusion of the digital yen in the country’s official Economic Plan. More recently, the Bank of Japan took a leap and appointed Kazushige Kamiyama, the country’s top economist to head the department probing the prospects of CBDCs.

Is ‘Deregulation’ Good For Crypto?

One of the important factors of the crypto ecosystem is decentralization. However, almost every crypto platform or currency falls under the purview of regulators from across the globe. While several protest the need for regulations, a few others including Ryozo Himino point out the importance of regulations. Himino stated,

“Deregulating bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies may not necessarily promote technical innovation, if doing so simply increases speculative trading.”

Furthermore, he went on to suggest that the regulators of Japan had no intention of “taking special steps” to endorse or promote cryptocurrencies.