Investment Funds Will Be Allowed To Hold Crypto Under New Legislation in Japan: Report

If newly proposed legislation passes, Japan will start allowing investment funds to hold digital assets.

According to a new Bloomberg report, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration is proposing revised legislation that would lift a restriction that prevents investment funds and venture capital firms from directly holding cryptocurrencies.

Says the proposal, which was approved by Kishida’s cabinet on February 16th,

“Measures will be taken to add crypto assets to the list of assets that can be acquired and held by investment limited partnerships (LPS).”

An LPS is generally a fund that invests in unlisted companies and startups.

The proposal is expected to go before the Diet, Japan’s parliament, for debate and a vote.

The legislative move is reportedly part of Kishida’s broader effort to revive Japan’s economy, which includes supporting Web3 businesses. The proposal adds to Japan’s recent decisions to relax some of its strict regulations on crypto token listings and taxation, according to Bloomberg.

Hiro Kunimitsu, chief executive of the Japan-based virtual reality gaming company Thirdverse, calls the proposal “wonderful.”

“To explain this simply, under Japanese rules up until now, VCs (venture capitalists) were not able to invest in crypto assets. Some projects only issue crypto assets without issuing stocks (Astar, Oasy, etc.). Japanese VCs could not invest in such places. Therefore, from the beginning, the project faced a huge hurdle of sourcing from overseas VC. I think that the fact that Japanese VCs can now invest will be a big opportunity for many Web3 startups to be born from Japan!”

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