Crypto assets come under Financial Instruments and Exchange Act rules, with insider trading regulations and stronger exchange operator requirements

Crypto asset trading rules underwent a major transformation in July 2026. With the passage of the revised Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), bitcoin and other crypto assets are shifting from regulation as "payment services" to regulation as "financial instruments transactions." The aim is to raise the investor protection framework to a level comparable with the stock market.

The three pillars of this revision are: establishing an information disclosure framework, introducing insider trading regulations, and strengthening requirements for exchange operators. Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has made clear that this does not constitute an "endorsement" of crypto asset investment, and the price volatility risk of bitcoin remains unchanged. This is fundamentally an institutional overhaul designed to enhance the fairness and transparency of the trading environment.

Issuer information disclosure and insider trading rules

In stock investing, investors can review a company's financial performance and business operations. Crypto assets, however, have issuance mechanisms that vary by token, and some—like bitcoin—have no identifiable issuing entity. Under the new framework, for crypto assets with issuers, information disclosure will be required from the issuer in certain circumstances. For those without issuers, the exchange operators handling them will be required to create and provide the necessary information. This advances the development of an environment where investors can make decisions after understanding "what kind of crypto asset this is."