It was only a matter of time, I suppose, until the draconian FSA decided it didn’t like cryptocurrencies that can’t be tracked.
While Japan is a worldwide beacon of digital currency exchange, and as much as some cheerlead the mainstreaming and government adoption of cryptocurrencies, make no mistake...without centralized control over these technologies, any and all “support” from the state stops dead in its tracks.
In my last post on the FSA I discussed how recent regulations and licensing requirements are driving useful and innovative services from the marketplace. The most recent casualty of the bureaucratic sea of red tape is the Kraken Exchange. Well, the folks at the FSA are back at it again, now taking aim at privacy coins in the name of “security.”
FSA Building in Tokyo. Source.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (a laughable moniker really, much like the “Federal Reserve”) has recently been applying very real pressure to major exchanges/burgeoning exchanges in the country to halt, withdraw, or not implement in the first place, support for three of the most popular “privacy coins.” Cryptos that, unlike Bitcoin, cannot be tracked via a public ledger.
On March 16, Jiji Press reported that Coincheck was dropping transactions in Monero and two other hard-to-track cryptocurrencies; the report suggested that this was part of the company’s attempt to show better compliance standards. After the January 26 hack of Coincheck, the FSA has ramped up their inspections of all operating registered cryptocurrency exchanges. The FSA has also informed other exchanges applying to be registered, that dealing with these three highly anonymous cryptocurrencies would be detrimental to gaining approval.
Statists gonna state.
Of course this isn’t really surprising, but it still should be a sobering slap in the face to any hope anyone may have held regarding major nation states’ and their perceived “openness” to financial privacy, autonomy, and true decentralization in the from of cryptocurrencies and their free exchange. The whole idea of crypto is antithetical to control.
While it is currently unclear whether the FSA will issue an all out ban of Dash, Z-Cash, and the perceived number one threat to the control scheme, Monero, one thing is clear—exchanges attempting to support and list these coins will not be looked upon favorably by the powers that be.
It may be that these coins are even made “illegal” in the land of the rising sun. As coins like Monero are virtually untraceable, this seems a bit silly. Almost like attempting to catch a wild monsoon in a paper cup. Good luck to the state agents attempting this miracle feat, I guess.
For those of you who understand the revolutionary meaning of crypto. I suppose all I can say is, stay smart, stay wise, and stay dignified.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
IMHO this was to be expected. The crypto craze is being used to establish a world wide digital currency. Once this is accomplished, all "privacy" will be made illegal for "safety reasons". If you think this cannot be enforced, think again. They have already backdoors to ANY computer. Enforcement will be a piece of cake. Google the Talpiot program, here is a short clip...
https://steemit.com/conspiracy/@lexicographer/how-israel-hardware-backdoored-everything
FSA can fuss all they want but Monero is not going anywhere...
except the 🌚
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Bullshit. Don’t spam here again.
Oh~ you still comment back to spammers, you are so kind !
Sometimes. Or sometimes I just drop the hammer ;)
Sorry Bro.I did not know anything about what I later learned about
How do they ban them specifically? I mean, they can throw them off from the common platforms, but that won't change much since after all they are privacy coins designed and used by users who insist on privacy. They will simply go to a more private place to trade them.
It's a bit like outlawing gun ownership. The criminals won't mind...
The building is very large indeed and very high
Japan is a very developed country
I wish to visit her someday
your story and your writing are always cool to be read.
I own some Zen Cash (a hard fork from Z Cash). They forked to improve the security. Zen Cash is like Monero, and it is impossible to track it.
Sure, governments can shut down the crypto to fiat conversion through banks, but they cannot stop us from using crypto entirely.
This is one reason I want to have a foreign bank account however, so I can transfer from crypto to fiat to one bank to another bank (if needed).
I've always wondered what crypto values would go to too if that crypto to fiat window was closed completely.
Protonmail has a VPN service now, and I've been using that lately. I had some EOS in the past that I should have held on to, and I've missed some quality ICO's because of being a "US Citizen."
It's a fluid and always changing game, but I'm willing to play it to have some good hedges in crypto! :)
Damn, gonna have to get myself some Dash and Z-Cash too, then! If I'm to be a self-respecting voluntaryist/anarchist then I guess I owe it to myself to buy some it just because the gubbernment don't like it ;)
Coins mentioned in post:
Banning math is impossible and despite governments trying it with expected results, they don't give up. I do think the fears are overblown, however.
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@oph3lia/the-fears-of-privacy-coins-being-banned-are-highly-overblown
People are being caged for exchanging coins freely and privately in the US and elsewhere already.
But the coins themselves weren't banned, that was my point.
Right. I didn’t claim they were banned. That’s why I’m confused here.
I like your article, and appreciate the data, but did you read the information I linked to in this piece? Discouraging exchanges from exchanging these coins is already happening at the hand of governing bodies. And especially in Japan—where I am living—this sort of discouragement carries immense weight and actual practical consequence. I don’t think it’s an act of engaging in FUD, per se, to point this out. A ban is entirely possible here. And so is extreme punishment at the hands of the state.
Math cannot be banned. That’s obvious. People can be caged, and exchanges made to toe the line. That’s all
I was getting at in this write-up.
I'm not saying that people won't be caged nor am I saying that the government isn't going to keep imposing more and more onerous rules until most people feel that it's not worth it - but the underlying code being banned isn't likely to stand up to a court challenge as it's been made into a precedent involving 1A unless it goes all the way to the Supreme Court and they rule differently - also quite unlikely.
Calling it a ban is FUD, saying that governments may try to make things difficult is not. Besides, not all jurisdictions have the same laws and there are workarounds for these sort of issues, and again, it's up to individuals if they want to take the risks.