The head of Japan’s financial regulator said “caution” is needed in deciding whether the country should follow the lead of countries like Hong Kong and the US by approving crypto-linked exchange-traded funds.
Many people believe that crypto assets “do not necessarily contribute to the wealth creation of the Japanese people in a stable and long-term manner,” Financial Services Agency Commissioner Hideki Ito said in an interview.
His comments come after regulators around the world have softened their stance on ETFs that invest directly in Bitcoin and Ether. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reluctantly gave the green light to the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in January following a 2023 court reversal in a case brought by Grayscale Investments. Those products have attracted $19.2 billion in net inflows to date. The first Ether-pegged ETFs went live in the U.S. in July.
