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Blockstream, a blockchain technology firm headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, has moved to expand its activities in Japan with the opening of a new office and the announcement of a partnership with local companies. The infrastructure development company has partnered with Diamond Hands and Fulgar Ventures, CoinDesk Japan reported. Diamond Hands is a Japan-based company involved in providing Bitcoin-related products. It helps companies to integrate Bitcoin and lightning payments into their services. Based in Wilmington, Delaware, Fulgur Ventures invests in early-stage startups. It is particularly focused on Bitcoin and Lightning Network-related projects.Photo by David Edelstein on UnsplashBootstrapping brand awareness Fulgur Ventures is Blockstream’s largest shareholder. The objective is to bootstrap brand awareness within Japan using these partnerships with local companies. To that end, Diamond Hands CEO Koji Higashi will become Blockstream’s brand ambassador. It’s thought that efforts will be made going forward to further expand partnerships with local Japanese companies. Blockstream announced in a press release that it aims to drive adoption of self-custody technologies and Bitcoin layer-2 innovations within the East Asian country. Furthermore, it plans to drive adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Commenting on the development, Blockstream Founder and CEO Adam Back stated:"With increased regulatory clarity and rising institutional interest in Bitcoin now is the moment for Blockstream to establish a direct presence in Japan, one of our most important markets." Back added that the company is looking forward to “empowering Japanese enterprises and individuals to fully harness Bitcoin as the foundation for a financial future that's secure, scalable and decentralized.” Tokyo office Another aspect to the expansion involves the opening of an office in Tokyo by Blockstream.  Adam Back is a Bitcoin OG who has often been the subject of speculation in attempts to identify pseudonymous Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. Back proposed Hashcash, a proof-of-work-based system and forerunner to Bitcoin, in 1997. The Japanese corporate world has demonstrated its interest in Bitcoin in recent months, with local company Metaplanet launching an ambitious plan to acquire 21,000 Bitcoin by 2026, having adopted the Bitcoin playbook pioneered by American business intelligence and Bitcoin development company MicroStrategy. Blockstream’s investment arm, Blockstream Capital, has also been active in the market. Last month, the company invested $75 million into crypto custodian Komainu. Komainu is a joint venture between CoinShares, Ledger and Japanese global financial services company Nomura.  The same month, the company launched two institutional-grade Bitcoin investment funds. The funds, Blockstream Income Fund and Blockstream Alpha Fund, have been devised to cater to a growing demand from institutions for transparent, regulated and secure financial products. A third fund, Blockstream Yield Fund, is due to launch later this year. It will offer Bitcoin holders consistent, low-risk returns on their holdings. Blockstream was founded in 2014. In its earlier years, the company has served as a technology provider relative to the Liquid Network. In Core Lightning, it has developed a well-recognized implementation of the Lightning Network protocol.  To facilitate Bitcoin holders in terms of self-custody of the leading crypto asset, Blockstream developed Blockstream Jade, a hardware wallet built on open-source software. The device offers air-gapped functionality, meaning that users can perform transactions without connecting the device itself directly to the internet.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to ban insider trading in the cryptocurrency market, according to an Oct. 15 report in Nikkei, cited by CoinPost. The forthcoming rules would amend the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act to explicitly bar trading based on nonpublic information, with violators subject to administrative fines.Photo by Louie Martinez on UnsplashTightening oversight through the SESCThe FSA intends to hammer out the details through a working group by year’s end and aims to submit a bill amending the securities law during the 2026 ordinary session of the Diet. Under the proposal, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) would gain authority to investigate suspected violations and could recommend fines or criminal charges in cases of alleged insider trading. Experts say Japan’s system of self-regulation, led by cryptocurrency exchanges and the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), lacks sufficient data monitoring. The government hopes that granting the SESC oversight of crypto transactions will help ensure fairer trading and make the market more attractive to investors. The new rules would target the use of confidential information, such as advance knowledge of a token listing or a major security flaw. Yet applying insider-trading standards to crypto may prove difficult. Many tokens have no clear issuer, making it harder to determine whose information could move markets or who should be held accountable. Crypto investing has surged in Japan, with domestic trading accounts quadrupling in five years. The FSA now aims to update its rules to reflect that digital assets are traded mainly as investments, not as payment instruments. Leadership transition brings policy uncertaintyJapan’s plan to strengthen oversight of cryptocurrencies coincides with a period of political transition. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced his intention to step down but remains in office for now. According to CNBC, Sanae Takaichi, newly elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), would typically be expected to assume the premiership, but the coalition’s collapse has upended what would otherwise be a routine transition. The parliamentary vote to choose Japan’s next leader, initially slated for Oct. 15, has been postponed to Oct. 21. In the wake of the split, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) is reportedly seeking Komeito’s support for a joint prime ministerial candidate. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), is seen as a potential consensus choice. The ruling LDP currently holds 196 seats in the lower house, but a united opposition could command a larger bloc. Tamaki has also drawn attention in crypto circles. About a year ago, he proposed cutting taxes on cryptocurrency gains to 20%, a flat rate similar to that on stock profits, during his campaign against Ishiba. At present, crypto gains in Japan are classified as miscellaneous income and taxed at progressive rates that can exceed 50% when local levies are included. Metaplanet’s Bitcoin strategy tested amid market shiftsAgainst that backdrop, Metaplanet, often dubbed Japan’s answer to the U.S. firm Strategy for its aggressive Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation, is under pressure as its valuation slips below the value of its crypto holdings. The company’s market-to-BTC net asset value (mNAV) ratio fell to 0.99 on Oct. 14, dropping below 1 for the first time. The metric compares the company’s market value with its BTC holdings, and a reading below 1 means the stock is trading at a discount to its BTC reserves. The decline comes after Metaplanet paused BTC purchases for the past two weeks. As of Oct. 1, the company held 30,823 BTC on its balance sheet. 

Atomic Wallet Hacker Uses Lazarus Crypto MixerThe stolen cryptocurrency from the recent $35 million hack of Atomic Wallet is already being moved to a crypto mixer favored by North Korea’s notorious cyber-hacking group.Photo by Micha Brändli on UnsplashSinbad.ioAccording to UK-based crypto compliance analysis firm Elliptic, the funds have made their way to a crypto mixer used by Lazarus Group, a notorious hacker group that focuses on crypto heists which is believed to have direct ties with the North Korean government.On June 5, Elliptic’s Investigations Team revealed that it had traced the funds from the Atomic Wallet hack to the crypto mixer Sinbad.io. Lazarus had previously used the mixer to launder over $100 million in stolen crypto assets.While the exact amount sent to the mixer was not specified, Elliptic noted that the stolen funds were being exchanged for Bitcoin before undergoing obfuscation through the mixer. Additionally, Elliptic reported that Sinbad.io is likely a rebranded version of Blender.io, another mixer extensively used to launder funds by the Lazarus Group. Blender.io has been sanctioned by the US Treasury.Atomic Wallet hackThe hack of several user accounts on Atomic Wallet occurred on June 3, resulting in losses of up to $35 million. News of the issue broke with the following tweet from the project team (which has subsequently been deleted): “We have received reports of wallets being compromised. We are doing all we can to investigate and analyze the situation. As we have more information, we will share it accordingly.”In a follow-up tweet the next day, the team confirmed that it was investigating the matter with the assistance of a number of “leading security companies.”However, Atomic Wallet later downplayed the incident, stating that less than 1% of its monthly active users were affected. The project team was castigated by users for trying to present the hack as a minor incident. One user took to Twitter to call out the Atomic Wallet team for “having the nerve to come to the networks and say that only 1% of wallets were affected.”The Atomic Wallet project is based out of Tallinn, Estonia, having been founded in 2017. It claims to provide a non-custodial decentralized multi-currency crypto wallet. The product supports over fifty coins and two hundred tokens. It also offers atomic swaps between digital assets, while also supporting integrations with instant exchanges such as Changelly, ShapeShift, and others.Roland Säde, the Chief Marketing Officer of Atomic Wallet, assured users that the team is working tirelessly to recover the stolen funds. He emphasized the need to complete the investigation to develop a concrete plan.Despite the ongoing efforts, Säde urged victims to track the illicit transfers and report them to popular crypto exchanges. By doing so, it was thought that may hinder the scammers from exchanging the funds.Crypto hacking menaceLazarus Group hackers have been the bane of the crypto space in recent years. Elliptic released a report last month that identified Japan as having been the country most adversely affected by the North Korean hackers. It’s understood that the estimated $721 million in stolen crypto from Japan-based entities amounts to nearly nine times the value of North Korea’s exports based on 2021 data.While Atomic Wallet is directly reporting the incidents, Säde believes that having more individuals monitoring the hackers’ activities will make it more challenging for them to move the funds undetected. Unfortunately, Elliptic’s recent findings suggest that for many victims, it may already be too late to prevent further misuse of their stolen cryptocurrency.