A group of licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan is looking to restore the market confidence with more self-regulatory rules in the future.
According to the Japanese news outlet Asahi Shimbun Tuesday, 16 exchanges that are currently registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) have formally launched a regulatory organization dubbed Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Association.
Taizen Okuyama, President and CEO of Money Partners, a publicly traded foreign exchange firm that also entered the cryptocurrency space, will serve as the chairman of the group.
Together with other 15 participants including bitFlyer, SBI Virtual Currency and GMO Coin, Okuyama announced the formal launch during the group’s first meeting on Monday, the report said.
By uniting all licensed exchanges in the country, the Association said it will take efforts to develop comprehensive rules on customer protection and internal control, and will seek compliance from each member company. In addition, penalties will be designed by the group to punish activities that undermine the integrity of the industry, the report said.
“I will make sure that security measures and internal control are in place,” Okuyama was quoted as say. “We want to eliminate customers’ concerns and work to restore public confidence in order to develop a healthy market.”
The new group comes at a time when exchanges in Japan are taking steps to restore public confidence in the industry following a hack in January that exploited some $500 million worth in the NEM token from Coincheck.
It also follows an initial announcement in March on the launch of the group as a response to the FSA’s widened regulatory move with on-site inspections over exchanges’ security measures.
Speaking of the current situation where more than a dozen of cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan still operate without a full license from the FSA, Okuyama said the new group will also aim to offer help and advice on the future development of these exchanges.
He concluded:
“The development of the industry as a whole is important.”
Okuyama image via YouTube
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Source: CoinDesk.com
