Otoritas Jepang telah meluncurkan penyelidikan pada semua bursa mata uang kripto yang terdaftar. Inspeksi darurat itu menyusul peretasan besar-besaran bursa yang dioperasikan oleh Tech Bureau yang berbasis di Osaka.
Para pejabat Badan Layanan Keuangan tengah memeriksa 16 bursa terdaftar serta 3 lainnya yang masih dalam proses pendaftaran. Mereka memeriksa bagaimana aset pelanggan disimpan dan langkah keamanan diterapkan.
Para pejabat juga telah memulai inspeksi di lokasi Tech Bureau. Badan tersebut mengatakan akan mempertimbangkan hukuman jika menemukan pelanggaran keamanan.
Tech Bureau mengatakan bursa mata uang kriptonya Zaif, kehilangan beberapa mata uang virtual senilai sekitar 60 juta dolar, termasuk Bitcoin, dalam yang tampaknya peretasan pekan lalu.
Di bulan Januari, Coincheck yang berbasis di Tokyo kehilangan mata uang virtual senilai lebih dari 500 juta dolar, dalam yang diperkirakan peretasan.
2. Asia Cracks Down on Cryptocurrency
Masashi Kato
Monday, October 2, 2017
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/inconversation/asiacracksdownoncyptocurrency/
Virtual currencies are gaining popularity worldwide. The price of Bitcoin has tripled since the beginning of this year. Amid the ongoing boom, some Asian countries are starting to tighten regulations.
Chinese authorities have begun imposing tougher restrictions on virtual currency trading. Some major Bitcoin exchanges announced they would suspend trading or halt conversions with the yuan. In Japan, virtual currency exchanges will be required to register with the Financial Services Agency starting in October. The move comes after the failure of major Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox in 2014.
NHK World’s Masashi Kato talked with Kariya Kayamori, CEO of QUOINE, one of Asia’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, on the latest moves.
Kato: First, let me ask you about China’s recent move to tighten regulations on cryptocurrencies. What’s behind it?
Kayamori: I think it's very simple. The Chinese communist party wants control and anything that is out of control is dangerous to their society. And as the nature of cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin, where China was leading the global transaction volume, it was getting out of hand.
Kato: How will this impact the market?
Kayamori: Short-term impact is big, but when I say short term, it’s a couple of weeks to maybe a maximum of a month. With the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China happening in October, I think there will be some sort of direction. There was always a rumor that the Chinese government wanted to launch their own cryptocurrency. The most important thing is control. They have not shut down the Bitcoin mining facilities where China controls more than a majority of Bitcoin mining. So, this is temporary.
Kato: Some analysts point out that cryptocurrency can lead to money laundering and other problems. Do you think that’s the main reason for the Chinese government’s tougher regulations?
Kayamori: I don’t think money laundering is the single biggest issue for the Chinese government to restrict or ban cryptocurrencies. It's more about control. They want to make sure that they control everything. There’s always ways to move money from mainland China to Hong Kong or mainland China to Singapore. There are agents and they do it with fiat RMB currency. So that always happens. When you look at cryptocurrencies, it's actually easier because it’s traceable. You might not know the actual identity or the name of that individual but you can trace it through the blockchains.
What I think is going to happen eventually is China is going to nationalize cryptocurrency exchanges, or maybe control 2 or 3 of the top currencies, and do it as a national service where they have total control like the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzen exchange. I think that’s what’s going to happen.
Kato: Let’s turn to Japan. There are new regulations starting this October. What are your thoughts on this?
Kayamori: It’s a double-edged sword. Because Mt. Gox happened in their backyard, it was important for the Japanese government to make sure that that doesn’t happen again and also to protect the end consumer. Japan is the first country that has put in a nationwide or federal level of cryptocurrency regulation for exchanges. It makes a lot of sense, because the money-in money-out, the first mile and the last mile is where virtual currency and cryptocurrency exchange with fiat or national currency. So it’s natural for the government to regulate and oversee the first and last mile.
It’s a blessing, but it’s also a curse. The amount of back-office and mid-office compliance, governance, security, reporting is too much for a lot of startups. The few exchanges that have given up applying for the registration are the ones that unfortunately didn’t have enough resources, and the capacity to become regulated.
Kato: How do you see the potential of the Japanese market?
Kayamori: I think the Japanese market has the potential to be one of the largest retail markets. Japanese retail investors and FX are actually globally number one, because of Mrs. Watanabe — the market’s metaphor for Japanese housewives who are interested in investing in FX. It’s easy to understand, especially for a nation like Japan that is predominantly an export country. The exchange rate between the Japanese yen in US dollars is very close to everybody. So it’s much easier to trade FX than to trade equities, commodities, or bonds. FX is much closer to them. Japan is also the largest country for loyalty points. When you look at Rakuten Point, T Point, all of these coalition programs are very natural to Japanese consumers.
Cryptocurrency is somewhere in between. It is the intersection of foreign exchange and loyalty points, so regardless of the legal definition of what cryptocurrency is, from a retail investor’s view, it’s very natural. It’s a big market and it’s growing.
Kato: What about regulations in other Asian countries?
Kayamori: Singapore is following Japan. Korea is trying to establish them now. The Philippines as well, is looking at it as a money transfer service. They’re looking for inspiration from Japan, best practices. I got a lot of inquiries, and it’s about to happen. Singapore is amending their payments act. It’s very similar to Japan. Japan is also changing its payments act, and this is happening in Singapore. As I mentioned, in the Philippines, they’re looking at it as a remittance, a money transfer service, and they said they will be issuing approval to 2 cryptocurrency exchanges. I think the Bank of Philippines just mentioned that. And Korea, they’ve just announced that they’re going to regulate exchanges as well.
So, this is going to happen and if the government is going to regulate the crypto ecosystem, the place that they should regulate it is the exchanges, because this is the first and last mile. This is where cryptocurrency and national currency exchange, so I would assume within the next 2 to 3 years, every country will regulate cryptocurrency exchanges.
This is one of the most innovative disruptive technologies that has come to the financial industry. So everybody needs to embrace it. That means it’s not only about regulation. It’s about building an ecosystem. We will need to work with banks. We will need to work with regulators. We will need to work with forex brokers. The ecosystem is now changing at light speed.
Kato: Conventional currencies are issued by the central bank or central government. But there is no central issuing body for cryptocurrencies. How can they be managed?
Kayamori: There are many elements when you look at regulation. Do you want to regulate the supply? They cannot control the monetary supply of cryptocurrencies, but they can control when it switches hands with fiat, because fiat is controlled by the central bank. So from their perspective, they want to make sure it’s exchanged properly, through know-your-customer procedures for anti-money laundering purposes.
But what’s going to be interesting is, in the future, there's going to be a day when end-to-end, all the services are going to be done and concluded and paid in cryptocurrencies. It will not touch fiat. So what is the government going to do? I’m sure they’re thinking about it, but they haven’t made any announcements yet.
3. China's Tough Policies May Be Clearing Path to Lead Cryptocurrency Field
Thursday, February 15, 2018
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/inconversation/chinastoughpolicies/
Cryptocurrencies seem to be grabbing headlines almost every day, especially since hackers launched a massive attack two weeks ago against one of Japan's major exchanges.
Chinese officials have taken a particularly tough stance on virtual currencies. Trading at exchanges was shut down, and public fundraising using digital coins was banned last September.
NHK World's Masashi Kato spoke with Professor Yang Dong of Renmin University of China, an expert on cryptocurrencies and fintech. He explains what's behind China's moves, and what we can expect going forward. Below is an excerpt from the interview.
Kato: Can you explain to us what's behind China's regulations against cryptocurrencies?
Yang: The Chinese government shut down Bitcoin exchanges, and banned initial coin offerings, or ICOs, last September because there were many fraudulent projects. As virtual currencies and ICOs started drawing attention, more projects came out that didn't make proper information disclosures. Some even aimed to deceive customers. Such deals targeted people who without proper regulatory protection faced the risk of losing their assets. Government officials felt the need to do something fast, and they decided to implement the ban.
Kato: Does the Chinese government have a plan to launch a cryptocurrency of its own? And if so, when will that happen?
Yang: The People's Bank of China created an institution to study digital currencies last year. And there is a possibility that it will create one later this year, or in 2019. Cryptocurrency trading without sufficient regulations to protect people is not good for society as a whole. So Chinese authorities think the country having its own sovereign digital currency is the way to go. That would allow them to acquire massive amounts of data and expand their control over the country's entire economy. I think this would be a digital revolution, the biggest revolution since the Industrial Revolution that happened 3 centuries ago.
Kato: Do you think there is a chance that regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges will be lifted?
Yang: China is currently trying to revise its Securities and Exchange Law. We need to study and experiment with how we can use blockchains and crowdfunding, and see what kinds of laws or regulations are needed. After that is finished, I think there will still be a possibility of amendments, or a lifting of the cryptocurrency restrictions.
Kato: What did you think of the Tokyo-based Coincheck incident?
Yang: In 2017, Japanese authorities started requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to register. After China closed down its exchanges, many operators applied for registration in Japan, and they are very interested in what happened at Coincheck. I personally feel that the registration system will improve safety for customers. It's important to have a secure system in place for investors and consumers. It's a big challenge for Japanese regulators, but it's also a big chance for Japan. The country introduced a registration system for virtual currency exchanges, which was the first time that happened anywhere in the world. I'm optimistic that Japan will improve its legal infrastructure for cryptocurrencies and have proper regulations in place. Learning from what happened at Coincheck, it's essential for government officials and regulators to improve their effectiveness and detect, trace, and handle such cases and fend them off. I think there is a need for Japanese authorities to adopt "regtech", or regulatory technology. This is a new field that involves using IT to improve regulatory processes. In order to keep attacks from happening again, the government and industry associations need to come up with more technologies to prevent and track hacking.
Kato: Cryptocurrency regulation will be on the agenda at next month's G20 meeting of finance ministers. What kind of discussions do you see happening?
Yang: Fintech technologies including, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are a cross-border business, so regulators need to cooperate at an international level along with the private sector. Asian countries should be leading the discussions by vigorously exchanging views at all levels, including with academics, lawyers, financial experts and government officials. Stakeholders of every stripe need to get involved.
Kato: What kind of future do you see for virtual currencies?
Yang: I'm a member of China's special committee on the digital economy. I also participated in the World Internet Conference last December.
In my view, digital or cryptocurrencies are a must for the digital economy, which I think will be the mainstream in the future. We will need digital currencies, whether they are Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Different countries should study and implement virtual currencies, or sovereign digital currencies that suit their needs. I believe that's part of a natural historical trend. People will see digital currencies as an important event in the history of human development. The current juncture offers opportunities for Japan and China to be leaders in the field. I hope the two nations will work together on various initiatives. To do so, they need to promote bilateral exchanges both in the public and private sectors.
2. Asia Cracks Down on Cryptocurrency
Masashi Kato
Monday, October 2, 2017
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/inconversation/asiacracksdownoncyptocurrency/
Virtual currencies are gaining popularity worldwide. The price of Bitcoin has tripled since the beginning of this year. Amid the ongoing boom, some Asian countries are starting to tighten regulations.
Chinese authorities have begun imposing tougher restrictions on virtual currency trading. Some major Bitcoin exchanges announced they would suspend trading or halt conversions with the yuan. In Japan, virtual currency exchanges will be required to register with the Financial Services Agency starting in October. The move comes after the failure of major Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox in 2014.
NHK World’s Masashi Kato talked with Kariya Kayamori, CEO of QUOINE, one of Asia’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, on the latest moves.
Kato: First, let me ask you about China’s recent move to tighten regulations on cryptocurrencies. What’s behind it?
Kayamori: I think it's very simple. The Chinese communist party wants control and anything that is out of control is dangerous to their society. And as the nature of cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin, where China was leading the global transaction volume, it was getting out of hand.
Kato: How will this impact the market?
Kayamori: Short-term impact is big, but when I say short term, it’s a couple of weeks to maybe a maximum of a month. With the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China happening in October, I think there will be some sort of direction. There was always a rumor that the Chinese government wanted to launch their own cryptocurrency. The most important thing is control. They have not shut down the Bitcoin mining facilities where China controls more than a majority of Bitcoin mining. So, this is temporary.
Kato: Some analysts point out that cryptocurrency can lead to money laundering and other problems. Do you think that’s the main reason for the Chinese government’s tougher regulations?
Kayamori: I don’t think money laundering is the single biggest issue for the Chinese government to restrict or ban cryptocurrencies. It's more about control. They want to make sure that they control everything. There’s always ways to move money from mainland China to Hong Kong or mainland China to Singapore. There are agents and they do it with fiat RMB currency. So that always happens. When you look at cryptocurrencies, it's actually easier because it’s traceable. You might not know the actual identity or the name of that individual but you can trace it through the blockchains.
What I think is going to happen eventually is China is going to nationalize cryptocurrency exchanges, or maybe control 2 or 3 of the top currencies, and do it as a national service where they have total control like the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzen exchange. I think that’s what’s going to happen.
Kato: Let’s turn to Japan. There are new regulations starting this October. What are your thoughts on this?
Kayamori: It’s a double-edged sword. Because Mt. Gox happened in their backyard, it was important for the Japanese government to make sure that that doesn’t happen again and also to protect the end consumer. Japan is the first country that has put in a nationwide or federal level of cryptocurrency regulation for exchanges. It makes a lot of sense, because the money-in money-out, the first mile and the last mile is where virtual currency and cryptocurrency exchange with fiat or national currency. So it’s natural for the government to regulate and oversee the first and last mile.
It’s a blessing, but it’s also a curse. The amount of back-office and mid-office compliance, governance, security, reporting is too much for a lot of startups. The few exchanges that have given up applying for the registration are the ones that unfortunately didn’t have enough resources, and the capacity to become regulated.
Kato: How do you see the potential of the Japanese market?
Kayamori: I think the Japanese market has the potential to be one of the largest retail markets. Japanese retail investors and FX are actually globally number one, because of Mrs. Watanabe — the market’s metaphor for Japanese housewives who are interested in investing in FX. It’s easy to understand, especially for a nation like Japan that is predominantly an export country. The exchange rate between the Japanese yen in US dollars is very close to everybody. So it’s much easier to trade FX than to trade equities, commodities, or bonds. FX is much closer to them. Japan is also the largest country for loyalty points. When you look at Rakuten Point, T Point, all of these coalition programs are very natural to Japanese consumers.
Cryptocurrency is somewhere in between. It is the intersection of foreign exchange and loyalty points, so regardless of the legal definition of what cryptocurrency is, from a retail investor’s view, it’s very natural. It’s a big market and it’s growing.
Kato: What about regulations in other Asian countries?
Kayamori: Singapore is following Japan. Korea is trying to establish them now. The Philippines as well, is looking at it as a money transfer service. They’re looking for inspiration from Japan, best practices. I got a lot of inquiries, and it’s about to happen. Singapore is amending their payments act. It’s very similar to Japan. Japan is also changing its payments act, and this is happening in Singapore. As I mentioned, in the Philippines, they’re looking at it as a remittance, a money transfer service, and they said they will be issuing approval to 2 cryptocurrency exchanges. I think the Bank of Philippines just mentioned that. And Korea, they’ve just announced that they’re going to regulate exchanges as well.
So, this is going to happen and if the government is going to regulate the crypto ecosystem, the place that they should regulate it is the exchanges, because this is the first and last mile. This is where cryptocurrency and national currency exchange, so I would assume within the next 2 to 3 years, every country will regulate cryptocurrency exchanges.
This is one of the most innovative disruptive technologies that has come to the financial industry. So everybody needs to embrace it. That means it’s not only about regulation. It’s about building an ecosystem. We will need to work with banks. We will need to work with regulators. We will need to work with forex brokers. The ecosystem is now changing at light speed.
Kato: Conventional currencies are issued by the central bank or central government. But there is no central issuing body for cryptocurrencies. How can they be managed?
Kayamori: There are many elements when you look at regulation. Do you want to regulate the supply? They cannot control the monetary supply of cryptocurrencies, but they can control when it switches hands with fiat, because fiat is controlled by the central bank. So from their perspective, they want to make sure it’s exchanged properly, through know-your-customer procedures for anti-money laundering purposes.
But what’s going to be interesting is, in the future, there's going to be a day when end-to-end, all the services are going to be done and concluded and paid in cryptocurrencies. It will not touch fiat. So what is the government going to do? I’m sure they’re thinking about it, but they haven’t made any announcements yet.
3. China's Tough Policies May Be Clearing Path to Lead Cryptocurrency Field
Thursday, February 15, 2018
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/inconversation/chinastoughpolicies/
Cryptocurrencies seem to be grabbing headlines almost every day, especially since hackers launched a massive attack two weeks ago against one of Japan's major exchanges.
Chinese officials have taken a particularly tough stance on virtual currencies. Trading at exchanges was shut down, and public fundraising using digital coins was banned last September.
NHK World's Masashi Kato spoke with Professor Yang Dong of Renmin University of China, an expert on cryptocurrencies and fintech. He explains what's behind China's moves, and what we can expect going forward. Below is an excerpt from the interview.
Kato: Can you explain to us what's behind China's regulations against cryptocurrencies?
Yang: The Chinese government shut down Bitcoin exchanges, and banned initial coin offerings, or ICOs, last September because there were many fraudulent projects. As virtual currencies and ICOs started drawing attention, more projects came out that didn't make proper information disclosures. Some even aimed to deceive customers. Such deals targeted people who without proper regulatory protection faced the risk of losing their assets. Government officials felt the need to do something fast, and they decided to implement the ban.
Kato: Does the Chinese government have a plan to launch a cryptocurrency of its own? And if so, when will that happen?
Yang: The People's Bank of China created an institution to study digital currencies last year. And there is a possibility that it will create one later this year, or in 2019. Cryptocurrency trading without sufficient regulations to protect people is not good for society as a whole. So Chinese authorities think the country having its own sovereign digital currency is the way to go. That would allow them to acquire massive amounts of data and expand their control over the country's entire economy. I think this would be a digital revolution, the biggest revolution since the Industrial Revolution that happened 3 centuries ago.
Kato: Do you think there is a chance that regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges will be lifted?
Yang: China is currently trying to revise its Securities and Exchange Law. We need to study and experiment with how we can use blockchains and crowdfunding, and see what kinds of laws or regulations are needed. After that is finished, I think there will still be a possibility of amendments, or a lifting of the cryptocurrency restrictions.
Kato: What did you think of the Tokyo-based Coincheck incident?
Yang: In 2017, Japanese authorities started requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to register. After China closed down its exchanges, many operators applied for registration in Japan, and they are very interested in what happened at Coincheck. I personally feel that the registration system will improve safety for customers. It's important to have a secure system in place for investors and consumers. It's a big challenge for Japanese regulators, but it's also a big chance for Japan. The country introduced a registration system for virtual currency exchanges, which was the first time that happened anywhere in the world. I'm optimistic that Japan will improve its legal infrastructure for cryptocurrencies and have proper regulations in place. Learning from what happened at Coincheck, it's essential for government officials and regulators to improve their effectiveness and detect, trace, and handle such cases and fend them off. I think there is a need for Japanese authorities to adopt "regtech", or regulatory technology. This is a new field that involves using IT to improve regulatory processes. In order to keep attacks from happening again, the government and industry associations need to come up with more technologies to prevent and track hacking.
Kato: Cryptocurrency regulation will be on the agenda at next month's G20 meeting of finance ministers. What kind of discussions do you see happening?
Yang: Fintech technologies including, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are a cross-border business, so regulators need to cooperate at an international level along with the private sector. Asian countries should be leading the discussions by vigorously exchanging views at all levels, including with academics, lawyers, financial experts and government officials. Stakeholders of every stripe need to get involved.
Kato: What kind of future do you see for virtual currencies?
Yang: I'm a member of China's special committee on the digital economy. I also participated in the World Internet Conference last December.
In my view, digital or cryptocurrencies are a must for the digital economy, which I think will be the mainstream in the future. We will need digital currencies, whether they are Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Different countries should study and implement virtual currencies, or sovereign digital currencies that suit their needs. I believe that's part of a natural historical trend. People will see digital currencies as an important event in the history of human development. The current juncture offers opportunities for Japan and China to be leaders in the field. I hope the two nations will work together on various initiatives. To do so, they need to promote bilateral exchanges both in the public and private sectors.
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