The Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulatory body of 31 local crypto exchanges, is preparing to release a “green list” of 18 widely-accepted cryptocurrencies in late March.
It has been reported that the green list aims to spare Japanese crypto exchanges from having to screen cryptocurrencies with the JVCEA each time before listing coins on their trading platforms. The digital assets included in the green list will no longer be subject to screening.
However, the upcoming green list will feature some of the most-traded cryptocurrencies in Japan including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC). According to the report, the conditions for being added to the green list include being listed on three exchanges in Japan, with at least one trading platform having to list that digital asset for at least six months.
The report said that the JVCEA’s latest initiative aims to provide crypto investors with more options to trade on regulated Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges.
It added:
"Some industry executives said sophisticated traders have flocked to exchanges that do not have a license in Japan, such as Binance, partly due to the lack of options."
Likewise, according to the latest official list of traded coins on Binance, the crypto exchange supports more than 80 cryptocurrencies as of mid-March 2022. Coinbase, the United States’ largest crypto exchange that officially launched operations in Japan last year, has listed about 160 cryptocurrencies so far, according to its official website.
Japanese crypto exchanges have collectively listed only about 40 cryptocurrencies so far. A JVCEA official reportedly said that GMO Coin crypto exchange is the largest Japanese crypto exchange in terms of supported coins and handling 20 cryptocurrencies.
Moreover, BitFlyer, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Japan and a member of JVCEA, has listed 15 cryptocurrencies so far.
A spokesperson said:
"We are thinking of expanding the amount of listed cryptocurrencies for trading in future. The era of cryptocurrencies has just started. Japanese people are becoming increasingly interested in virtual currencies."
As previously reported, the JVCEA was established back in March 2018 as a self-regulatory body after a series of hacking incidents that triggered intense scrutiny from regulators.
Thus, in February, the JVCEA complained that Japan’s strict screening rules were significantly impeding the $1 trillion Japanese crypto industry from growing.
Source: Cointelegraph