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Japan’s Liberal Democracy Party (LDP), the ruling party in Japanese politics, is moving ahead with comprehensive regulatory reform on cryptocurrencies that would slash the capital gains tax on crypto to 20% and categorize digital assets as a distinct asset class.
According to LDP lawmaker Akira Shiizaki (Akihisa), cryptocurrencies will be categorized as a new asset class, separate from securities under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
The LDP proposal also requested that cryptocurrency derivatives trading receive the same tax treatment as spot investments and moved to defer taxes on crypto-to-crypto swaps. Instead, the LDP proposed that taxes from crypto swaps be calculated all at once and charged only when the crypto is exchanged for fiat currency.
<figure><img alt="Japan, Bitcoin Regulation" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01956c25-395d-7735-8f80-7820b274ec08" title="">
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/AkihisaShiozaki/status/1897557208801665265" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/AkihisaShiozaki/status/1897557208801665265">Akira Shiizaki</a>
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These regulatory reforms signal that Japan is opening up to cryptocurrencies following a somewhat cautious approach to digital asset investment in the past, as the country <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/dgt10011/status/1897628890404659626" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/dgt10011/status/1897628890404659626">shifts</a> away from encouraging investment in US debt assets.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbi-vc-trade-usdc-launch-japan-stablecoin-regulation" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbi-vc-trade-usdc-launch-japan-stablecoin-regulation">SBI’s crypto arm to support USDC as Japan softens stablecoin rules</a>
<h2 id="japan-embraces-innovation-but-with-a-cautious-approach">Japan embraces innovation but with a cautious approach</h2>
The government of Japan has never been explicitly anti-crypto and has adopted a measured regulatory approach balancing innovation with consumer protection.
In November 2024, the government of Japan <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-passes-stimulus-package-commits-cryptocurrency-tax-reform" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-passes-stimulus-package-commits-cryptocurrency-tax-reform">passed an economic stimulus bill</a> and committed to crypto tax reform, which is currently ongoing, with the LDP requesting input on its crypto reforms until March 31, 2025.
<figure><img alt="Japan, Taxes, Bitcoin Regulation" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-03/01956c3b-d57e-7a63-85ea-fe2eb77065f3" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Translated statement of LDP crypto tax proposal. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://note.com/akihisa_shiozaki/n/nc7dfae6946bf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://note.com/akihisa_shiozaki/n/nc7dfae6946bf">LDP Working Group</a>
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Japanese lawmaker Satoshi Hamada asked the legislature to study the potential adoption of a strategic Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">BTC</a>) reserve in the United States in December 2024.
Hamada also asked Japan’s government to consider <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-government-satoshi-bitcoin-reserve" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-government-satoshi-bitcoin-reserve">adopting a Bitcoin strategic reserve</a> by converting a portion of its foreign currency reserves to BTC to remain competitive with the US.
However, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba later responded, saying that Japan does not have enough insight into the US Bitcoin movement to decide — <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-government-yet-to-express-views-bitcoin-reserve" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-government-yet-to-express-views-bitcoin-reserve">throwing cold water on the proposal</a>.
More recently, in February 2025, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) asked Google and Apple to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-removes-unregistered-crypto-exchange-apps" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/japan-removes-unregistered-crypto-exchange-apps">suspend unregistered crypto exchange apps</a> in the region until the exchanges registered with Japan’s regulatory authorities.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-laws-changing-across-world-2025/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-laws-changing-across-world-2025/">How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025</a>

Japan’s ruling party moves to slash crypto capital gains taxes to 20%

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