Japan’s Parliament Reclassifies Bitcoin and Crypto as Financial Assets Under FIEA

Japan’s parliament passed an amendment on Wednesday that reclassifies cryptocurrency as a “financial asset,” a shift that pulls bitcoin and other digital assets out of the country’s payments regime and into the framework that governs stocks, bonds, and investment trusts, according to a report from public broadcaster NHK [1]. The change strips crypto of its prior status under the Payment Services Act, where regulators treated it as a means of settlement, and folds it into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), the same statute that oversees traditional securities [2]. The change takes effect within a year, with a target of fiscal 2027, NHK reported [1]. The move brings digital assets under the same...

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