As Bitcoin and other digital currencies became more relevant for the world’s financial system, numerous countries have started regulating the cryptocurrency market. One of the most important efforts was focused towards crypto taxation policies.

Now, recent reports indicate that the Japanese Tax Commission is unsatisfied with Japan’s current crypto taxation system, and is urging the country’s National Assembly to introduce new guidelines. This is great news for the Japanese crypto community, granted that until now, reporting crypto gains and investment profits was a confusing and exhausting experience. This aspect discouraged crypto users from disclosing their taxes, and put them at risk.

During the last couple of months, South Korea’s attitude on bitcoin and other digital currencies has begun to change, and recent reports now indicate that the country is considering new regulation. Before anything else, it is important to point out the fact that following China’s ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges, numerous companies affected moved abroad to countries such as South Korea and Japan, where regulation was more lenient.

However, according to recent reports, there have been several proposals in South Korea, meant to prevent those who are underage from opening accounts on digital currency exchanges, while also taxing capital gains made from trading.

apan’s relationship with Bitcoin has been going on for longer than we can remember, yet it was only one month ago, when the Japanese Government stated that they would begin recognizing Bitcoin as a legal payment method, on the 1st of April, 2017.

This has led to an increase in the value of the bitcoin price, alongside with more interest in the Japanese bitcoin market, by companies operating throughout the Nippon country. With this in mind, recent reports indicate that over 10 Japanese companies are currently planning, or launching their very own bitcoin and digital currency exchanges. This would help cover the continuously growing demand for the digital currency, while also making trading a bit cheaper in the country, which is great news for the Japanese Bitcoin community.

While most countries are tolerant of bitcoin and other digital currencies, not many recognize it as a means of payment, or actual currency, from a legal standpoint. According to recent reports, Bitcoin has just managed to get the recognition associated with mainstream currencies just like fiat, over in Japan, thanks to a recently-implemented law that categorizes bitcoin as a legal payment option.

The law, which has come into effect on the 1st of April, has both advantages and disadvantages. With this in mind, bitcoin exchanges operating in the Nippon country will face regulatory scrutiny, and the application of all laws that currently govern financial institutions and banks in Japan. Based on this aspect, all exchanges operating inside the country will need to comply with the already-strict anti-money laundering regulations, alongside with the Know Your Customers (KYC) laws. This will mean that bitcoin exchange users will face less privacy, as annual audits will be conducted as well. Luckily, numerous cyber security requirements have also been implemented, therefore further securing the private data of exchange users, alongside with their funds. This is great news considering the fact that one of the world’s biggest exchange hacks (The Mt. Gox event) took place in Japan a few years ago.

The year of 2016 brought along major developments on the blockchain market, with numerous banks and financial institutions considering to make the move, and switch their systems to a blockchain-based one. This is completely understandable, given the benefits of the blockchain network over the traditional system.

For those who do not know, using blockchain for trading can lead to lower costs, faster transactions and more efficient processes. According to recent reports, it seems like the Japanese Financial Services Agency has just allowed the operator of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Japan Exchange Group, to go ahead and use the blockchain network for its core trading infrastructure.

So far, Japan’s policy on bitcoin has been quite lenient, apart from a couple of taxes imposed on people purchasing bitcoin with the help of digital currency exchanges. However, recent reports indicate that Japan’s government has just decided to finally end the 8% consumption tax, imposed on these types of bitcoin transactions, thus coming as a relief to the digital currency community in the Asian country.

While initially announced in a Japanese publication, the change will come after an agreement set by the Financial Agency and the Japanese Financial Ministry, after long talks, which should come to fruition by the end of the year, or in early spring. Reports indicate that a tax panel will also join the discussions, and will hopefully be in favour of the plan to end these taxes.

There have been numerous reports on banks, stock trading corps and various other financial institutions showing interest in bitcoin’s underlying technology, the blockchain. Yet, not many have showcased their interest in using digital currencies for other purposes- until now.

Recently, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has announced that it has begun conducting experiments using their very own digital currency. With this in mind, the bank plans to release its digital currency sometime in the autumn of 2017.

The crash of the Japanese Bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, was probably one of the worst events to happen in bitcoin history to date. In fact, right afterwards, the digital currency proved its incredibly volatile nature by dropping in value significantly.

Well, the people affected by the hack may have something to look forward to in the next couple of days, considering the fact that some of the investors will be receiving a part of their bitcoin investment back. With this in mind, an announcement made by the Kraken Bitcoin Exchange showcases that the verification process being carried out for over 25,750 claims has been completed.

Mark Karpeles, the CEO of Mt. Gox, the bankrupt Bitcoin exchange which totalled the cryptocurrency’s reputation back in 2014 was just arrested by Japanese law enforcement in Tokyo, Japan. The arrest comes after hundreds of man-hours spent in order to investigate whether he is guilty for all the accusations that have been brought upon him.

If you’re not yet aware, Mt. Gox was the world’s biggest exchange, handing more than 70% of the world’s Bitcoin transactions. It operated for a couple of years until 2013-2014, when Karpeles came under investigation for fraud-related activities. Soon after, the exchange filed for bankruptcy, and investors quickly began taking their money back, but as the liquidation process begun, the exchange announced that over 850,000 Bitcoins had been either stolen or lost. At that moment, this was worth over $800 million.