Japan doubts PM Kishida’s economic and crypto ‘friendliness’ as trading revives in 2024

Japan’s current prime minister (PM) Fumio Kishida is on his way out, and local businesses have rated his results via a Teikoku Databank survey. Kishida scored worse overall than the previous PM, Shinzo Abe, as Japanese companies and crypto traders still have misgivings about the government amidst several superficially bullish developments.

A recent economics survey by Japanese analytics firm Teikoku Databank has shown exiting prime minister Fumio Kishida performed worse than his predecessor Shinzo Abe.

1,924 companies were asked to score the Kishida administration out of 100 points on economic policy, and the average score was 49.3. However, former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s result on a previous survey snagged an average of 59.4, a full ten points higher.

The ratings come as debate and divided opinion on Japan’s economic policy and crypto ‘friendliness’ have taken center stage with current developments involving Ripple, Sony, stablecoins, and taxes.

Kishida policy ineffective say critics, others happy for ‘weak yen’

“The smaller the company, the lower the evaluation,” a report from Japan’s Mainichi Newspaper notes regarding the data.

A chemical wholesaler who ranked Kishida with 40 points lamented: “Large companies have made big profits, but small and medium-sized companies have found it difficult.”

Another business, in transportation and warehousing, noted: “There were many ad hoc responses, so it was unclear what the government did, and the economic effect was not felt.” They gave the Kishida administration a score of only 30 points.

But some businesses were glad for rising stock prices and wage increases. “We appreciate the rise in stock prices due to the introduction of the new NISA (tax-free small investment system) and the weak yen.” This was the opinion of a restaurant owner, who gave the PM 50 points.

Japan’s ongoing battle with inflation and loss of fiat purchasing power are causing perceptions to vary in the land of the rising sun. Especially when dollar-to-yen exchange rates and differences across economic class strata are considered.

Japanese inflation over 10 years. Source: tradingeconomics.com

Mixed emotions as crypto trading revives in Japan’s centralized market

Crypto bulls are happy Fumio Kishida praised web3 development throughout his tenure as prime minister, going so far as to “speak” (via remote video recording) at large digital asset conferences like Tokyo’s WebX Asia.

A recent report also notes that cryptocurrency trading on Japan’s centralized exchanges has seen a revival in 2024, with average monthly volumes up about $4 billion as compared to 2023.

But strong, valid doubts remain about Japan and crypto moving forward. While there may be a tax break in 2025 lowering the feverishly high punishment for crypto gains in the country, the up-to-55% gouge still remains, and Kishida’s exit could bring in even more stringent policies.

One example is PM hopeful Taro Kono, the government’s current Digital Transformation Minister, who plans a supposedly conservative reform that’s been labeled “bloody” by Japanese media, and who calls for ending struggling and “inefficient” businesses.

WebX Asia, Tokyo, 2023.

Concerns about Kono’s big government intervention echo the Teikoku survey’s concerns about special treatment and profits for large corporations and no one else.

This strong undercurrent of unease in Japan remains obscured, however, by developments like Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse proclaiming “Japan’s leaders are committed to advancing crypto” earlier this month, and perceived demand for a yen stablecoin. Further, there have been notable blockchain developments involving Sony’s Soneium, SBI, and NTT.

This not to mention the nation’s three largest banks gearing up for cross-border stablecoin payments as the September 27th vote for the next Japanese PM approaches. Events which, in a bitter irony, seem to have zero to do with Japanese namesake Satoshi Nakamoto’s innovation of bitcoin as a decentralized, permissionless, and peer-to-peer currency over a decade ago.

As the CEO of SBI Digital Asset Holdings, part of SBI Securities (Japan’s biggest online brokerage), noted of the country’s perceived crypto-friendliness in a recent Bloomberg report: “…it’s not crypto easy.”

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