Japan’s FSA Proposes Tax Exemption for Unrealized Crypto Gains

Creditcoin listed on UpbitCreditcoin (CTC) — an ERC20 token issued on the Creditcoin Network — was listed on South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on Tuesday evening (KST), according to an official announcement on the Upbit website.Photo by Maxim Hopman on UnsplashThe token was initially listed on Upbit’s BTC trading market, then on the Korean won-denominated market (CTC/KRW) trading market shortly after. In the announcement, the exchange clarified that it can only be deposited through the Ethereum network and not others like BNB Smart Chain (BSC).Major growthUpbit is the third Korean exchange that CTC has been listed on after Bithumb and Gopax. “Through this listing on Upbit, we expect that CTC’s liquidity will be boosted significantly since it will be traded in a broader market,” said Gluwa, the developer of the Creditcoin Network. Notably, the token’s price jumped 171.14% in just a day following the listing. It is currently $0.64 as of this writing, according to CoinMarketCap.Revolutionizing RWA investmentsCTC tokens power the Creditcoin Network’s global real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem, which functions as a platform for connecting investors and fundraisers. Fundraisers initiate offers on the network, which are pegged with CTC, and investors can choose which offers to invest in based on assessing the risk by examining the fundraisers’ decentralized and public credit history. In this process, blockchain technology plays an important role by facilitating direct contact between fundraisers and investors, building a sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem and allowing users to share credit history without disclosing personal information to centralized institutions or intermediaries.Since its major Creditcoin 2.0+ mainnet update that transitioned the protocol from a proof of work (PoW) to a fully nominated proof of stake (NPoS) consensus model, Creditcoin has experienced an increase in the number of network participants and the amount of staked CTC.

Korbit Joins Zero-Fee Crypto Trading Trend in South KoreaSouth Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit reduced trading fees to zero on October 20 (local time) for all of the cryptocurrencies supported on the platform. This move follows in the footsteps of Bithumb, another Korean exchange that introduced zero-fee trading earlier this month.Photo by Jeremy Perkins on UnsplashNo extra registration requiredKorbit users can now benefit from zero-fee trading immediately, with no special registration required. This arrangement will continue indefinitely until further notice.Market maker incentives continueKorbit’s market maker incentive program will remain in place. Under this program, users earn 0.01% of the transaction value whenever they place an order.Oh Se-jin, CEO of Korbit, underscored the exchange’s commitment to enhancing user satisfaction. He pointed out several initiatives they’ve undertaken, including enhancing the login system, raising the daily Korean won (KRW) deposit and withdrawal limits, and eliminating transaction fees. He further noted that by removing trading fees, they aim to alleviate the cost pressures of crypto trading for their users and breathe new life into the market.

In Mumbai, users of cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly being asked to prove they are real people—by moving their eyes or turning their heads in front of a camera—before they can open an account. In Tokyo, meanwhile, exchange operators are collecting a different kind of identity marker: each customer’s country of tax residence, recorded for reporting to authorities at home and abroad. Governments across Asia are tightening oversight of the crypto sector, with India and Japan pursuing parallel efforts to boost compliance, strengthen tax enforcement, and curb financial anonymity. Together, these measures are pushing digital assets closer to conventional financial standards.Photo by Rowan Heuvel on UnsplashIndia mandates biometric-style checksAccording to the Times of India, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has required crypto exchanges to adopt more stringent know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) procedures, including liveness checks designed to prevent accounts from being created using deepfakes. Under the guidelines, platforms must also record information such as geolocation data, IP addresses, and timestamps during onboarding, and link users to bank accounts through verification steps that include test transactions and government-issued identification like passports or voter IDs. The measures come as tax authorities continue to face obstacles in monitoring crypto activity. India taxes crypto profits at a flat rate of 30% and applies a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on transfers. According to a separate report by the Times of India, the Income Tax Department (ITD) told lawmakers that the pseudonymous and cross-border nature of crypto transactions can complicate compliance—particularly when funds move through offshore exchanges, private wallets, or decentralized finance platforms. Despite international information-sharing efforts, officials say tracing crypto holdings across jurisdictions remains challenging when transactions bypass regulated intermediaries. India’s central bank has also continued to argue in favor of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) over privately issued stablecoins. In its December financial stability report, the Reserve Bank of India said CBDCs can offer efficiency and programmability within a sovereign framework, while warning that stablecoins may introduce risks during periods of market stress. Japan implements OECD crypto tax rulesJapan, meanwhile, has moved to formalize international data exchange. On Jan. 1, 2026, it implemented the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a standard developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address cross-border tax evasion by automating the exchange of crypto transaction data between tax authorities. Under the new rules, users of Japanese crypto exchanges must declare their country—or countries—of tax residence. Exchange operators are required to collect and submit data to Japan’s tax authorities by April 30 of the following year, including transaction volumes, consideration received from purchases and sales, and asset-type breakdowns covering cryptocurrencies as well as security tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Information related to non-resident users is also intended to be shared with relevant foreign tax authorities under existing tax cooperation arrangements. While both nations pursue stricter oversight and transparency, their broader policy trajectories differ. In India, regulatory tightening reinforces a restrictive environment focused on risk containment. In Japan, by contrast, the new compliance frameworks appear to be laying the groundwork for a broader economic embrace of digital assets. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, speaking at the Tokyo Stock Exchange last week, framed 2026 as the “inaugural year of digital.” Unlike her Indian counterparts, who remain wary of private crypto assets, Katayama argued that established market infrastructure should play a larger role in adoption. Pointing to the U.S. market, she suggested Japan could move toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and integration with stock and commodity exchanges to capture the benefits of blockchain-based assets. This pro-growth shift is reinforced by the prospect of fiscal relief. Tokyo is considering an overhaul that would reclassify crypto gains—currently taxed as miscellaneous income at rates of up to 55%—to a flat 20%, aligning them with stocks. The changes, however, are not expected to take effect until 2028, given the extent of the required legal and regulatory revisions. India, meanwhile, has indicated that it plans to adopt CARF by 2027, suggesting that its current emphasis on domestic controls may eventually be supplemented by deeper international cooperation—bringing offshore crypto activity more firmly into the view of tax authorities.