Last April, Japan formed the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) to act as a regulator of cryptocurrency exchanges. Now, two of its members, who both hold the position of vice president, are stepping down after their respective exchanges were given regulator warnings.
Bitbank CEO Noriyuki Hiroyuki and bitFlyer CEO Yuzo Kano announced their exit on June 25, Cointelegraph reported. Kano and Hiroyuki’s companies were two of the six crypto exchanges that were mandated by Japan’s Financial Service Agency (FSA) to adhere to the strict guidelines relating to anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
Despite the exits, the regulatory body remains stoic, vowing to continue the duty that it was given. “We will continue to do our utmost to protect the interests of users and to promote the sound development of the virtual currency exchange industry, including the early establishment of voluntary regulation rules,” the agency said.
The JVCEA is slated to release a regulatory measure tomorrow that will penalize crypto exchange employees if they participate in improper trading practices. The mandate comes from the fact that these employees have firsthand knowledge regarding the crypto market, putting other crypto traders at a disadvantage.
Moreover, the regulation will prohibit the trading of cryptocurrencies that have an anonymity feature to decrease the occurrence of money laundering. Zcash and Monero are among those that will be encompassed by this restriction, along with other cryptocurrencies designed to hide the identity of users and the transactions they conduct.
The JVCEA was formed following the hacking of Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, where the culprits took off with $534 million worth of cryptocurrencies. The agency is the result of the merging of Japan Cryptocurrency Business Association (JCBA) and Japan Blockchain Association (JBA).
As of this writing, the government body has yet to announce who will fill the vacant positions left by Kano and Hiroyuki. And similar to most things, time will only tell whether their departure will have a significant impact on the agency moving forward.


Supermicro Forecasts Strong Q4 Revenue Growth as AI Server Demand Surges
Meta Plans $13B AI Data Center Financing in Texas Amid Surging Big Tech Investment
Palantir Reports Record Growth, Raises 2026 Revenue Outlook Above Expectations
AMD Q1 Earnings Surge on AI Demand, Stock Jumps After Strong Guidance
Broadcom Eyes $35 Billion AI Chip Financing Deal With Apollo and Blackstone
U.S. Cybersecurity Pushes Faster Patch Deadlines Amid Rising AI-Driven Threats
AWS Data Center Overheating Disrupts Cloud Services in Northern Virginia
Judge Delays SEC Settlement With Elon Musk Over Twitter Stock Disclosure Case
Dell Stock Hits Record High After Trump Endorsement, AI Server Demand Fuels Rally
Apple Explores Intel and Samsung Partnerships to Diversify Chip Supply Chain
FBI Warns of China’s Expanding Hack-for-Hire Network Amid Extradition Case
Japan Tech Stocks Surge as AI Optimism Lifts SoftBank, Chipmakers
Anthropic’s $1.5B AI Venture with Wall Street Firms Targets Private Equity Market
Hua Hong Semiconductor Stock Surges to Multi-Year High Amid AI Boom
U.S.-China AI Talks May Take Center Stage at Trump-Xi Summit
Samsung Surpasses $1 Trillion Market Cap Amid AI Chip Boom and Apple Partnership Talks 



