Japan Urges Crypto Exchanges to Delay Withdrawals in New Anti-Scam Push

Highlights:

• Japan wants crypto exchanges to delay some withdrawals and add stronger fraud checks to reduce digital asset scams.
• Rising investment and romance scams pushed Japan to strengthen oversight of crypto exchanges and tighten security measures.
• The new guidance shows that exchanges will face closer regulatory oversight through stronger withdrawal controls and monitoring.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency and the National Police Agency have asked cryptocurrency exchanges to delay some withdrawals, require wallet address registration and strengthen fraud checks after digital asset scam losses increased. The agencies submitted the guidance to the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association on Aug. 6 because it represents licensed cryptocurrency exchanges across Japan.

Japan FSA asks crypto exchanges to impose withdrawal delays to fight scams. pic.twitter.com/9cbIcLkUxn

— lenny 🥷 (@blockchainlenny) August 7, 2026

The guidance asks exchanges to delay cryptocurrency withdrawals after customers deposit fiat currency. It also asks platforms to delay withdrawals after customers purchase digital assets. Authorities want these delays because scammers often transfer stolen cryptocurrency before victims discover the fraud and report it.

Regulators also want exchanges to require customers to register withdrawal wallet addresses before sending digital assets. In addition, exchanges should activate newly registered addresses only after another waiting period. Authorities introduced both measures because scammers frequently move stolen cryptocurrency to newly added external wallets.

The agencies also asked exchanges to set withdrawal limits for each customer instead of applying one limit to every account. Exchanges should consider customer assets, transaction history, transfer purpose, and overall risk before setting those limits. They should also review customers who attempt unusually large or repeated withdrawals after waiting periods expire.

The Financial Services Agency classified the measures as guidance instead of binding regulations. Therefore, each exchange will decide how to introduce the safeguards according to its services, operations and exposure to misuse. Regulators also allowed exchanges to introduce the safeguards in stages when technical upgrades prevent immediate implementation.

Rising Scam Losses Push Japan to Strengthen Crypto Exchanges

The Financial Services Agency based the new guidance on fraud data showing sharp increases in investment scams, romance scams and cryptocurrency-related losses across Japan. Through May, authorities recorded 18,067 special fraud cases that caused losses totaling 151.47 billion yen.

SNS investment scams accounted for 5,099 cases and caused losses of 70.04 billion yen. Meanwhile, SNS romance scams caused another 20.2 billion yen in losses during the same period.

The fraud trend also appeared throughout last year. Police recorded 9,523 SNS investment scam cases that caused losses of 128.8 billion yen. Authorities also investigated 5,645 romance scam cases that resulted in losses of 54.64 billion yen. In addition, crypto-transfer romance scams reached 2,177 cases and caused another 24.77 billion yen in losses.

Regulators said criminals frequently transfer proceeds from fraudulent schemes into cryptocurrency exchange accounts before sending the assets to external wallets. Therefore, they want exchanges to strengthen transaction monitoring and identify activity that differs from normal customer behavior.

Earlier Rules Set the Stage for New Measures

Japan’s Financial Services Agency and the National Police Agency earlier asked banks to block transfers when sender names did not match account holder names. The latest guidance extends those banking safeguards to cryptocurrency exchanges by adding withdrawal delays, wallet registration and stronger transaction monitoring.

The latest safeguards also build on Japan’s existing Travel Rule requirements. The rules already require exchanges to collect and share identifying information for eligible cryptocurrency transfers. Meanwhile, the new guidance from the Financial Services Agency came days after Japan announced that it will establish a dedicated Crypto Assets and Stablecoins Division. The new division will strengthen financial supervision and help the regulator respond to the growing use of digital assets and other financial technologies.

金融庁が暗号資産に本気です

金融庁の組織内に、新たに「暗号資産・ステーブルコイン課」を設置することを発表しました pic.twitter.com/xpzqwK6Tio

— アンゴロウ@暗号資産 (@angorou7) August 5, 2026