The leading political party in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, announced today that they will not be regulating the Bitcoin, after deciding against doing so. This is despite the collapse of the world’s former biggest Bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, happened in Tokyo and could have been prevented with proper control from the government.
“Basically, we concluded that we will, for now, avoid a move towards legal regulation,” Takuya Hirai, LDP Lawmaker and spokesperson for the party’s internet media division said. He did however add that a final decision will be made after having heard out more opinions on the matter and about cryptocurrencies in general.
Japan therefore joins several other countries who have chosen not to regulate cryptocurrencies specifically, but instead ensure that the companies operating with the virtual currencies simply have to follow the regulations and laws that obliges to fiat currencies. Other places in the world however they are looking to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies and create specific laws and regulations that only applies to cryptocurrencies. In the US there are a special task force working on a Bitcoin rulebook which will help protect users in the future.