Financial Services Agency Mulls Allowing Banks to Hold Cryptocurrencies; Will Also Discuss Establishing Risk Management Frameworks

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, October 21, 2025

The Financial Services Agency will begin considering regulatory changes to allow banks to acquire and hold cryptocurrencies like bitcoin for investment purposes.

With the trading of cryptocurrency as a financial product spreading domestically and internationally, they aim to establish a system to enable banks to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as they do stocks and government bonds. The agency also plans to impose certain regulations to ensure banks remain financially sound.

Discussions will be conducted soon by a working group of the Financial System Council, an advisory panel to the prime minister.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which lack underlying assets, see greater price volatility than stocks and other financial products do. Holding large amounts could lead to losses if prices decline sharply, potentially worsening a bank’s financial condition. Consequently, the FSA’s supervisory guidelines, revised in 2020, effectively prohibit banking groups from acquiring cryptocurrencies for investment purposes.

Even if acquisition and holding of cryptocurrencies are permitted, the FSA anticipates imposing regulations considering their potential impact on banks’ financial health. The working group is expected to discuss establishing risk management frameworks for cryptocurrencies.

Additionally, the FSA will consider allowing banking groups to register as crypto-asset exchange service providers, a requirement for offering cryptocurrency trading and exchange services. By enabling the entry of highly credible banking groups into this market, the FSA aims to create an environment where individual investors can more easily participate in such investments.

Domestic cryptocurrency trading is expanding. According to the FSA and others, the number of open cryptocurrency accounts in Japan exceeded 12 million as of the end of February, increasing to approximately 3.5 times what it was five years ago.