The post What Japan’s new prime minister means for crypto appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

As of Sept. 27, 2024 Liberal Democratic Party member Shigeru Ishiba has been voted the next prime minister (PM) of Japan. But Ishiba’s former role as defense minster and his affinity for taxes and revving the money printer, could be problematic for crypto enthusiasts in the country. Christian. Military expansionist. Banker. Incoming Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba’s resumé isn’t one many might expect from a prime minister in Shintoist- and Buddhist-populated, constitutionally peaceful Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician and former defense minister will succeed Fumio Kishida in helming the Japanese political machine as of Oct. 1, after a Sept. 27 vote. Ishiba’s stated goals in general? — jack up taxes on investments and income, and increase military power. Ishiba’s plan signals continuing crypto damage in Japan Tokyo is a strange juxtaposition of forces when it comes to cryptocurrency. The same can be said for Japan as a whole. The original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s (ostensibly) pseudonymous creator, of peer-to-peer (P2P) electronic cash used freely without going through banks, remains alive and well in trading groups, at local businesses, and meetups. But on the regulated side of things, Japan’s government has been the target of hot criticism in recent years, with massive taxes on crypto assets and the outlawing of privacy coins on exchanges. Still, trading of crypto on centralized exchanges is said to have surged in 2024. With former prime minster Fumio Kishida now headed for the door, what could an Ishiba administration mean? For one: higher taxes on income and crypto investments. Ishiba has stated that he wants to strengthen income and investment taxes, exempting from this general invasion those who invest via state-approved programs such as NISA (the Nippon Individual Savings Account), a limited tax-free investment program for approved assets which does not yet include cryptocurrencies…

---

Filed under: News - @ September 30, 2024 1:55 am