2024

Sakura

Rule

<p>Japan’s most recent payment change is a big one. PayPay, the most popular cashless app in Japan, has bought a 40% interest in Binance Japan. This shows that they want to combine crypto funding and spending into one of Japan’s top consumer wallets. The goal for the 70 million+ PayPay users is simple: Make PayPay Money usable directly for crypto transactions within regulated rails.</p> 
<h2><a id="post-78222-_d3hby5hc61wc"></a>Why This Deal Matters</h2> 
<p>PayPay’s equity linkage gives Binance Japan a lot of distribution, and it also allows PayPay a new asset class to route through a compliance stack. Specifically, the integration will let customers “directly use PayPay Money” on Binance Japan.</p> 
<p>This is a convenience that Japan’s crypto market hasn’t experienced at wallet scale before. The plan comes after Binance’s return in 2022 through Sakura Exchange Bitcoin, and as Japan considers a broader legal reclassification of cryptocurrency.</p> 
<h2><a id="post-78222-_ddxfs6vjb328"></a>Regulation Is Tightening And Could Reframe Taxes</h2> 
<p>Policymakers are all going in the same direction. The FSA is looking into whether or not to move some of its crypto regulation from the Payment Services Act (PSA) to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA). This would make sure that investor safeguards are in line with securities standards.</p> 
<p>Japan’s stricter rules are in line with global trends toward crypto assessment that is backed by facts. Platforms like <a href="https://icobench.com/jp/">ICOBench</a>, which collect expert reviews and on-chain metrics for hundreds of token projects, act as unofficial standards for openness. These kinds of technologies enable investors and businesses to tell the difference between registered tokens that are real and speculative listings. This is exactly the kind of structure that Japan’s Financial Services Agency wants to make official by changing the rules under the FIEA.</p> 
<p>In fact, a bill might reach the Diet in early 2026, according to Nikkei via Reuters. This could make crypto a legal financial instrument and set the stage for a single ~20% capital-gains tax rate instead of the higher “miscellaneous income” rates that apply now.</p> 
<h2><a id="post-78222-_br9sz116ime"></a>Demand Is Real And Newly Mainstream</h2> 
<p>Usage indicators back up the push. The FSA says that there are more than 12 million crypto exchange accounts in Japan and more than ¥5 trillion in customer deposits. This shows that crypto has become a popular yet tiny investment.</p> 
<p>At the same time, Mercoin (Mercari’s in-app exchange) had over 3 million members by the end of 2024, with almost 90% of them being new to crypto. In 2024 alone, 1.72 million new accounts were created, showing that retail users are signing up using apps they already use.</p> 
<h2><a id="post-78222-_fkuh0w69tdl4"></a>Compliance Pressure Is Real</h2> 
<p>Enforcement has come with growth. At the end of 2024, authorities found about <a href="https://www.binance.com/en-AE/square/post/20001577302370">20 unregistered exchanges trying to get Japanese users</a>. This showed that all VASPs must register and obey JVCEA requirements on custody, listings, leverage, and AML.</p> 
<p>Japan also has the Travel Rule for VASPs, which says that qualifying transfers must have standard sender and receiver data. This is significant for PayPay–Binance users who want to move money between platforms.</p> 
<h2><a id="post-78222-_xqepplu2ne77"></a>The Net Read for Payments And Investors</h2> 
<p>If the integration works, Japan could become the first major market where <a href="https://walletinvestor.com/forecast">crypto</a> feels embedded in everyday transactions. Policy momentum is also moving in that direction. Putting crypto regulation under the FIEA and making taxes the same for everyone would accomplish more than just avoiding confusion. It would make crypto a legitimate element of Japan’s financial system.</p> 
<p>But this advancement is based on trust. The FSA and JVCEA’s tighter hold is more than bureaucratic red tape. It’s the cost of being credible in a market that doesn’t want to make the same mistakes it did in the past.</p> 
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Japan Is Turning Crypto Into a Mainstream Payment Rail

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