Keisuke Kimura On August 21, 2026, Laser Digital Japan completed its registration as a Japanese cryptoasset exchange service provider.
Six days later, Coincheck completed a completely different registration as an Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider.
The two announcements are easy to combine into a simple narrative: Japan has started issuing crypto licences again.
That interpretation misses the more useful lesson.
For global digital asset companies, there is no single “Japan crypto licence.” Japan now has multiple regulatory routes covering different activities, and the right market-entry structure depends on exactly what a company wants to do, who interacts with customers, who handles assets and which regulated functions are performed in Japan.
What changed in Japan in August 2026?
Two registrations arrived within six days.
On August 21, Laser Digital Japan, the Japanese entity of Nomura Group-backed digital asset company Laser Digital, completed its registration as a cryptoasset exchange service provider.
Laser Digital described the registration as the first new entry into this category in approximately four years.
On August 27, Coincheck completed its registration as an Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider.
Coincheck was already a registered cryptoasset exchange service provider, so this was not another new crypto exchange entering Japan.
It was an existing regulated company adding a different registration as it prepares to expand into stablecoins and on-chain finance.
That distinction is essential.
The two companies did not obtain the same “crypto licence.” They entered, or expanded within, different regulatory categories.
Laser Digital Japan: the first new cryptoasset exchange entrant in roughly four years
Laser Digital Japan was established in October 2023 and received cryptoasset exchange registration number 00032 on August 21, 2026.
Laser Digital has stated that its initial focus will be providing services to existing Japanese cryptoasset exchange operators and contributing to liquidity in the domestic market.
It is also considering providing digital asset trading opportunities to Japanese institutional investors.
Importantly, those plans should not be confused with services that are already operating.
As of its registration announcement, Laser Digital had not disclosed the launch date or detailed scope of its Japanese services.
The significance is therefore not simply that another retail crypto exchange has appeared.
Laser Digital is approaching the market from an institutional trading and liquidity perspective.
Coincheck: a different registration for stablecoins
Coincheck’s August 27 registration belongs to a separate category.
Japan introduced the Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider framework in 2023 for intermediary activities involving electronic payment instruments, including qualifying fiat-linked stablecoins.
Coincheck became the second company to complete this registration.
The company had announced a partnership with Circle in February 2024 to work toward expanding access to USDC in Japan.
Following the new registration, Coincheck said it would begin expanding its business in stablecoins and on-chain finance.
However, registration should not be confused with a product launch.
Coincheck has not announced the date on which USDC will become available to its customers.
Japan does not have one “crypto licence”
This is the most important point for companies evaluating Japan.
The phrase “Japan crypto licence” is convenient, but strategically misleading.
At a simplified level, companies may now encounter at least three relevant regulated routes when considering cryptoasset or stablecoin distribution.
First, a company conducting cryptoasset exchange services directly may require registration as a Cryptoasset Exchange Service Provider.
Second, intermediary activities involving regulated electronic payment instruments such as qualifying stablecoins can fall under the Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider framework.
Third, Japan introduced the Electronic Payment Instruments and Cryptoassets Service Intermediary framework on June 1, 2026.
Under that regime, a registered intermediary can, within the scope permitted by law, act on behalf of an existing licensed cryptoasset exchange or electronic payment instruments exchange provider in mediating transactions.
These categories do not cover every possible digital asset business model in Japan. Issuance, securities, derivatives, custody and other activities may involve additional regulatory frameworks.
The practical point is simpler:
Define the activity first. Discuss the licence second.
What USDC shows about entering Japan through a local partner
USDC provides a useful example.
Circle has established a Japanese presence through Circle Japan and has pursued adoption through local partnerships.
But regulated distribution of USDC to Japanese customers has been implemented through locally registered operators.
SBI VC Trade became Japan’s first Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider in March 2025 and launched USDC later that month.
Coincheck has now become the second registered operator preparing to expand access to USDC.
This creates an important strategic option for overseas product companies.
A global company does not necessarily need to perform every regulated function itself in order for its product to become available in Japan.
Depending on the product and legal structure, working with an existing regulated Japanese operator may be more practical than establishing and licensing a full regulated operation from scratch.
But this is not a regulatory shortcut.
The relevant questions include who contracts with the customer, who handles customer assets, who executes or intermediates transactions, who performs the relevant compliance obligations and where each function takes place.
Partnership architecture has to be designed around those functions.
What these registrations do not mean
The August announcements should not be interpreted as proof that Japan has suddenly made licensing easy.
Laser Digital Japan was established in October 2023, nearly three years before its registration.
Coincheck publicly announced its Circle partnership in February 2024, approximately two and a half years before receiving its Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider registration.
Neither period should be described as the regulatory application-processing time.
Public information does not establish when the formal application process began.
They do, however, illustrate that regulated market development in Japan can require a long planning horizon.
The announcements also do not mean that both companies have already launched the services described in their plans.
Laser Digital had not announced its service launch timing as of its registration announcement, while Coincheck had not announced a USDC customer launch date.
Finally, the registrations should not be treated as evidence that Japan has adopted a broadly permissive approach to overseas crypto businesses.
What global firms should consider before choosing a route into Japan
Before deciding to pursue a licence, an overseas digital asset company should answer more basic questions.
What exactly will a Japanese customer be able to do?
Who will have the customer relationship?
Will the company handle customer cryptoassets or fiat-linked tokens?
Will it execute transactions, or only introduce or intermediate them?
Could a Japanese regulated partner perform the regulated function while the overseas company provides the underlying product, liquidity or technology?
The answers can fundamentally change the cost, timing and organisational requirements of entering Japan.
For some businesses, their own Japanese regulated entity may be strategically necessary.
For others, locally regulated distribution or an intermediary structure may be more appropriate.
The lesson from August 2026 is not “Japan is open.”
It is that the architecture of regulated market access is becoming more diverse.
What happened during the four-year gap?
Laser Digital Japan describes its registration as Japan’s first new cryptoasset exchange entry in approximately four years.
That raises a separate question.
If no new entrant appeared in this particular registration category for roughly four years, did Japan’s digital asset market stand still?
It did not.
During that period, overseas groups entered through existing registered businesses, Japan created its stablecoin framework, USDC entered regulated distribution, a new intermediary regime was introduced, and the government began another major redesign of cryptoasset regulation.
Those developments are the subject of the next Japan Digital Asset Weekly:
Episode 96 — What Happened During Japan’s Four-Year Crypto Licensing Gap?
Primary sources
- Japan Financial Services Agency — Cryptoassets and Electronic Payment Instruments regulatory information
- Japan Financial Services Agency — Electronic Payment Instruments and Cryptoassets Service Intermediary framework
- Laser Digital Japan — Registration announcement, August 21, 2026
- Coincheck — Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider registration announcement, August 27, 2026
- Circle — Japan and USDC announcement, March 2025
Considering a digital asset opportunity in Japan?
Wakyodo helps global digital asset companies understand Japan’s regulatory and commercial landscape, identify potential local partners and determine an appropriate market-entry approach. Contact us through our website to discuss your plans.