Japan just handed out its first new crypto exchange license in four years — and it went to Laser Digital, backed by Nomura. The kicker? Their launch lineup includes $SHIB and $XRP.
This signals a real shift. For years, Japanese regulators treated retail-focused tokens like radioactive waste. Now they're green-lighting exactly those assets. The message is clear: the problem was never the tokens themselves.
What comes next matters more. Expect the approval pipeline to speed up, but here's the pattern forming — bank-affiliated firms will get priority over crypto-native startups. Traditional finance is being handed the keys to Japan's crypto market, not the builders who've been grinding in the space for years.
This is how regulated markets open up: slowly at first, then selectively. The institutions get the licenses. The retail tokens get the nod. And the native crypto companies? They wait in line behind the banks.
This signals a real shift. For years, Japanese regulators treated retail-focused tokens like radioactive waste. Now they're green-lighting exactly those assets. The message is clear: the problem was never the tokens themselves.
What comes next matters more. Expect the approval pipeline to speed up, but here's the pattern forming — bank-affiliated firms will get priority over crypto-native startups. Traditional finance is being handed the keys to Japan's crypto market, not the builders who've been grinding in the space for years.
This is how regulated markets open up: slowly at first, then selectively. The institutions get the licenses. The retail tokens get the nod. And the native crypto companies? They wait in line behind the banks.