Authorities in Japan Join Forces on Cryptocurrency Research Development

The Ministry of Finance of Japan, the Financial Services Agency and the Central Bank are said to have joined forces to promote research on digital currencies, recently officials from the three agencies discussed how digital currencies could impact the global currency system.

The agencies have held several meetings, the Japan Times reported Saturday, citing JIJI Press, to discuss the economic impacts of digital currencies. Their most recent meeting reportedly held last month.

The discussion was attended by Yoshiki Takeuchi, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs; Ryozo Himino, Vice Minister of International Affairs for the FSA; and Shinichi Uchida, Executive Director of International Affairs for the BOJ, according to the article.

The three officials are said to have discussed how digital currencies could impact the US dollar-dominated global currency system, as related matters.
“We are pursuing research and study from the technical and legal perspectives so that we can shift appropriately when there is an increasing need,” the report cited BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as saying.

Research Development of Digital Yen
In recent weeks, Japan seems to have been stepping up its efforts to research digital currencies. Last month, the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden) and the Swiss National Bank joined with five other global central banks to discuss digital currencies.

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said earlier this month it was working on proposals for digital currency to curb the potential influence of China’s coming digital yuan.

Nevertheless, Japanese finance minister Taro Aso warned yesterday that China’s digital currency needs more work before any issuance. “In the digital currency of the central bank, there is a big risk if the regulation is not well thought out, I would say,“ hold on ”to issue a state-supported digital currency, at least for now,” he stated.

Although Japan has no instant blueprint to issue digital yen, a number of officials have recently commented on one’s prospects. Last month, Masayoshi Amamiya, deputy governor of the BOJ, said the central bank “must be prepared” to launch a digital currency as public demand for it is growing.