Japan is a very important region when it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain. It now seems the country is preparing to accept initial coin offerings as well. Local legislators have unveiled guidelines for ICOs. This may very well set a global precedent for all other countries around the world as well.
The Initial Coin Offerings Gamble
With so many initial coin offerings taking place, there are a lot of concerns to take into account. A lot of these projects don’t adhere to any specific guidelines. Instead, they are either legitimate or a complete scam. For the average investor, it is difficult to distinguish between the two as of right now.
Without proper guidelines, things will not improve anytime soon. Several companies are flagged by the SEC for issuing unregulated securities. The Centra issue is just the latest in a growing list of companies scrutinized by the SEC. Rest assured there will be others to follow suit in this regard. Thankfully, it seems we may have some guidelines for initial coin offerings in the future.
Japan is leading the charge in this regard. The country is also one of the few to officially recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender in recent years. It is only normal they see merit in the ICO concept, even though it poses significant risks as well. Addressing those concerns is the number one priority in the country. With basic guidelines now in place, things look good for this nascent industry.
Japan’s new Guidelines Unveiled
Legalizing initial coin offerings is a remarkable decision by Japan’s regulators. The region set up a study group to examine the risks and benefits of this business model. Their new set of proposed rules mainly focuses on identifying investors. Additionally, the prevention of money laundering is also a top priority.
One of the big problems with initial coin offerings is transparency. Investors often cannot track the progress made by a project team. Japan’s new rules aim to address that problem by making progress tracking mandatory. All of these changes sound positive for the industry as a whole.
For now, the proposed rules will be reviewed by Japan’s FSA. Depending on how they view these rules, they may effectively be turned into law moving forward. It is evident Japan is rather open-minded when it comes to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings. This is quite different from other Asian countries such as China, South Korea and more recently Thailand. Whether or not things will turn around in these countries, remains to be determined.