Financial regulators in Japan have called for global regulators to treat cryptocurrency the same way as traditional banking, calling for stronger regulations for the sector.
According to Mamoru Yanase, the deputy director-general of the Financial Services Agency’s Strategy Development and Management Bureau, crypto needs to be controlled and regulated like traditional institutions.
The comments come in the wake of the collapse of FTX in November, which shook the industry and sparked calls for regulatory action.
Yanase has acknowledged that the problem wasn’t with crypto technology itself, but with “loose governance, lax internal controls and the absence of regulation and supervision.”
Furthermore, he said that regulators in the U.S. and Europe should enforce the same rules for crypto exchanges as they do for banks and brokerages.
He added that countries “need to firmly demand” consumer protection measures from crypto exchanges and for money laundering prevention, strong governance, internal controls, auditing and disclosure for crypto brokerages.
Yanase also confirmed that the Japanese subsidiary of FTX is expected to resume withdrawals starting in February and that the client’s assets have been properly segregated from the subsidiary.