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Key Takeaways
- Japan had 14.44 million registered crypto accounts in June 2026, including 8.92 million active accounts.
- The market has grown far beyond its 2018 retail base and is now treated mainly as an investment market.
- New FIEA rules will add disclosure and insider trading controls as Japan enters a stricter regulatory phase.
Updated: August 18, 2026
Japan’s crypto market is much larger than it was when regulators published one of the country’s first detailed market snapshots in 2018. The older report counted 3.5 million spot-trading participants, while June 2026 industry data recorded 14.44 million registered crypto accounts, including 8.92 million active accounts.
Registered Crypto Accounts Rise Past 14 Million
The Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) reported 14,443,385 registered customer accounts at member exchanges in June 2026. Of those, 8,919,810 were active accounts, while registered margin-trading accounts stood at 2,219,709.
The figures are not directly equivalent to the 2018 data, but they point to a substantially larger customer base. The 2018 market snapshot counted 3.5 million spot-trading participants as of March 2018, based on data from 17 exchange operators.
The account figures are also not a count of unique people.
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) has said exchange account data can include both individual and corporate accounts and that one person can be counted more than once if they open accounts at multiple providers.
Users in Their 20s to 40s Made Up 85% of Spot Traders
The 2018 data showed that Japan’s early crypto market was concentrated among younger retail users.
Customers in their 20s made up 28.78% of spot-trading users, while those in their 30s accounted for 34.24% and those in their 40s made up 22.47%.
That means users from their 20s through 40s represented about 85% of spot-trading customers. The report also showed 142,842 users in margin, credit and futures trading, with the largest share among users in their 30s.
Leveraged products already dominated trading activity at the time. Spot crypto trading reached 12.7 trillion yen in fiscal 2017, while margin, credit and futures trading reached 56.4 trillion yen on a notional basis.
Customer Balances Stand at ¥2.75T Across 31 Exchanges
JVCEA’s June 2026 data showed spot trading volume of 904.9 billion yen and margin trading volume of 846.7 billion yen. Member exchanges also reported 2.75 trillion yen in total customer deposit balances across crypto assets, cash and other funds.
The customer base is much larger than it was in 2018, but Japan’s market is also more controlled. JVCEA listed 31 crypto-asset exchange businesses that had started handling crypto assets as of July 31, 2026.
The FSA’s own regulatory review points to the same shift. It said crypto-asset accounts at exchange service providers exceeded 12 million by the end of January 2025, while customer deposit balances were above 5 trillion yen.
FSA Says Crypto Is Mainly Used for Investment
The FSA has moved away from treating crypto mainly as a payment issue. In its 2025 discussion paper, the agency said crypto assets are “predominantly bought and sold for investment purposes,” even though some payment use still exists.
That view helps explain Japan’s latest legal changes. The National Diet passed amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and Payment Services Act on July 15, 2026, and the legislation was promulgated as Law No. 64 on July 23, 2026.
Once effective, the law will move crypto-asset trading regulation from the Payment Services Act into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The core crypto provisions will take effect on a date set by Cabinet order within one year of promulgation.
Reform Adds Disclosure and Market-Conduct Rules
The new framework will add disclosure rules for crypto assets handled by registered crypto trading businesses. It will also bring certain crypto trading, offerings, borrowing activity, investment management and investment advice under Japan’s financial instruments’ regime.
The law will introduce insider trading rules for crypto assets handled by domestic crypto trading businesses. That is a major change from the 2018 market, when Japan’s focus was still largely on exchange registration, custody controls and security after the Coincheck hack.
Japan is becoming a larger regulated investment market. The law adds investor-protection rules, while crypto exchange-traded funds and tax changes still depend on separate implementation measures.
