Japan’s Financial Services Agency is doing something most regulators only talk about: building an entire division around crypto from scratch. The new Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division goes live on August 7, 2026, two days after the FSA formally announced its creation on August 5, 2026. What the new division actually doesPreviously, crypto regulation in Japan was split across multiple FSA offices, each handling a slice of the puzzle without a unified playbook. Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act has been updated to reclassify crypto assets as financial instruments. Maximum penalties for running an unregistered crypto operation now reach up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 10 million yen.