Japan FSA pushes crypto withdrawal delays after scam surge

Japan’s Financial Services Agency and National Police Agency asked cryptocurrency exchanges on Aug. 6 to introduce withdrawal delays, address registration and stronger fraud controls as authorities respond to rising scam losses involving digital assets. Summary Japan’s FSA asked crypto exchanges to delay certain withdrawals as authorities respond to rising scams. Exchanges should pre-register withdrawal addresses and impose waiting periods before newly added destinations become usable. Japan recorded 18,067 fraud cases through May, with losses reaching 151.47 billion yen. The FSA wants stronger monitoring, phishing-resistant authentication, personalized limits and faster freezing of suspicious accounts. No uniform withdrawal period was mandated, leaving implementation details to individual exchanges and risk profiles. The request went to the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association, the industry’s self-regulatory body.The measures are requests rather than a binding rule. The FSA did not set a nationwide waiting period. Exchanges should tailor controls to their services and risk profiles. System changes may be phased. Withdrawal delays are part of an 11-point anti-fraud ...