Date: 25 February 2026
Location: Hotel New Otani, Kioi Nadaman, Tokyo, Japan
Format: Closed-door roundtable, conducted under the Chatham House Rule
The Global Fintech Institute convened a select group of policymakers, legal experts, and industry leaders in Tokyo for a candid policy dialogue on three interconnected challenges shaping the digital asset landscape in Northeast Asia: crypto tax design, custody and prudential standards, and product and licensing clarity during the transition toward financial-instrument-style treatment of crypto assets.
Held at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo, the session brought together participants from legislative bodies, global exchanges, legal practices, payment platforms, and GFI’s own leadership to examine how regulation can be designed to keep consumers within the supervised perimeter while allowing responsible innovation to continue.
Key themes explored
Crypto Tax Design. The session examined how progressive tax regimes that significantly exceed rates applied to traditional financial instruments are driving trading activity offshore. Participants discussed the case for flat-rate separate taxation aligned with equities and bonds, supported by loss carry-forward mechanisms and exchange-based reporting infrastructure to reduce compliance friction.
Asset Classification. The rapid emergence of tokenised assets, wrapped tokens, cross-chain bridging, and real-world asset tokenisation is outpacing existing regulatory frameworks. The discussion underscored the need for a clear, substance-based taxonomy that determines regulatory treatment based on economic reality rather than technological form.
Custody, Prudential Standards, and Consumer Protection. Participants agreed that custody risk in digital assets is fundamentally operational rather than credit-based. The conversation focused on multi-pillar approaches: asset segregation, governance controls, security standards (including minimum authentication requirements), proof-of-reserves transparency, and proportionate financial backstops calibrated to wallet-level exposure.
Product and Licensing Clarity. The reclassification of crypto under financial instruments law was broadly welcomed, but participants emphasised that clear licensing pathways, particularly for staking and yield-type services, are essential to prevent innovation and consumer demand from migrating offshore.
Emerging Frontiers. AI-driven autonomous transactions and agentic payments were identified as the next frontier for tax and regulatory policy, requiring early and considered attention from policymakers before the scale of adoption outpaces regulatory capacity.
The full post-session synthesis, produced under the Chatham House Rule with all discussion points presented without attribution, is available to GFI members on the GFI portal.
[View the GFI Policy Breakfast Report: Policy Dialogue on Digital Asset Innovation in Northeast Asia]