The major Japanese regulations that apply to crypto and stablecoin services, and how ChainAnalyzer supports practical compliance.
Last updated: April 2026
In Japan, crypto exchanges and electronic payment instrument handlers are licensed under the Payment Services Act (PFMSA), with customer due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting, and Travel Rule compliance mandated by the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (APTCP). The Financial Services Agency is strengthening enforcement following FATF's 4th mutual evaluation of Japan, and the June 2024 APTCP amendments introduced notification obligations for VASP transfers. ChainAnalyzer provides the transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, and counterparty risk assessment layers of this compliance stack, delivered in Japanese and hosted in-country.
Chapters II-2 ('crypto assets') and II-3 ('electronic payment instruments') of the PFMSA define the licensing regime for crypto exchanges and stablecoin handlers. Licensed operators must file periodic reports with the FSA / Local Finance Bureau, perform transaction verification, segregate customer assets, and maintain information security standards aligned with FISC.
The 2023 amendment brought stablecoins under 'electronic payment instruments', so issuing or handling yen-pegged stablecoins such as JPYC now requires an Electronic Payment Instruments Handler registration. ChainAnalyzer monitors on-chain flows of JPYC and the major stablecoins to satisfy the transaction monitoring obligation.
APTCP designates crypto exchanges and electronic payment instrument handlers as 'specified business operators', imposing:
ChainAnalyzer screens each receiving address pre-transfer against ScamDB, OFAC SDN, the known-entities registry, and Neo4j graph proximity, and records the detection trail automatically. Threshold detection and originator-info metadata generation for Travel Rule are built in.
The Center for Financial Industry Information Systems (FISC) publishes the de-facto security standards adopted across Japanese financial institutions, including crypto exchanges. ChainAnalyzer is designed to align with:
FATF Recommendation 16 ('wire transfers') requires VASPs to share originator and beneficiary information when sending crypto between VASPs. In Japan, the amended APTCP (June 2023) confirmed the threshold as 'over roughly $3,000 equivalent', and interoperability with domestic and overseas VASPs is now expected.
ChainAnalyzer implements threshold detection for transfers of JPYC, USDT, USDC, PYUSD, FDUSD and the native assets (BTC/ETH/POL/AVAX/SOL). When a transfer exceeds the threshold, the platform flags it pre-execution and generates standardized metadata suitable for hand-off to external Travel Rule protocols such as Sumsub, Notabene, or TRP.
No. ChainAnalyzer is a transaction monitoring and sanctions screening tool; whether you need the license depends on your business model. We recommend consulting with Japanese crypto-regulatory counsel such as Hori Sogo, So / Sato, or Anderson Mori & Tomotsune.
No. The reporting obligation remains with the business operator. ChainAnalyzer surfaces detections and preserves evidence, but the final reporting decision and submission to authorities remain with the operator.
Baseline items — Japan-region hosting, encryption, access control, and audit logs — are covered by design. Full FISC alignment evolves through ISMS adoption and ongoing third-party audits.
The free ScamDB API for basic recipient screening, the Starter plan for continuous transaction monitoring, and the Pro plan for Follow Mode (fund flow tracing) and Case Management.
Custom deployments for financial institutions and compliance teams — get in touch.
Contact usThis guide is for general information only and is not legal or tax advice. Regulatory interpretation varies by fact pattern — always consult qualified counsel, tax advisors, or the Financial Services Agency for actual registrations and operations.
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