Japan's Financial Services Agency is considering increasing penalties for unregistered cryptocurrency sales, potentially raising the maximum sentence to 10 years.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to strengthen regulation of unregistered cryptocurrency businesses and intends to move related regulations from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act to enhance investor protection. According to the proposed plan, criminal penalties for unregistered sellers of crypto assets will be increased from the current "imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 3 million yen" to "imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to 10 million yen (or both)." Simultaneously, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission will be granted stronger enforcement powers, including the ability to conduct on-site inspections and seize evidence during criminal investigations. Furthermore, the regulator plans to change the legal name of registered entities from "crypto asset exchange operator" to "crypto asset trading operator." This increased regulation comes against the backdrop of a continued rise in disputes related to the highly speculative Meme token. (Nikkei)