Japan Opens the Door to Bitcoin Donations; Bitcoin Gambling Legalization to Follow?
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With citizens and some politicians pushing for Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency) legalization, this could be the first step toward opening up the market. Donations may soon be followed by crypto legalization in other sectors such as online gambling, an idea that has been pushed by powerful figures in the past few years. Under public pressure and support from political parties, Japan may be entering a new era where it can reap the benefits of both cryptocurrencies and crypto gambling.
A Perfect Example of Legal Loophole Exploitation
Japan’s laws on donations to political parties are pretty strict. It is illegal to donate cash or securities directly to politicians and their campaigns. However, as cryptographic assets do not fall under those classifications, they fly under the radar and are now accepted as donations. Of course, Japan’s political parties should now address taxonomy and rules by themselves.
Experts say that the exploitation of this legal loophole is another proof that the Japanese laws simply can’t keep in touch with the times. It’s yet another case of tech evolving faster than the law can adapt and a huge plus for many Japanese cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Although nothing has been set in stone so far, the latest move was seen as a positive signal for the proposed legalization of cryptocurrencies and mainly Bitcoin.
Japan’s stance on cryptocurrencies is notoriously strict. The country’s FSA (Financial Services Agency) has approved only 16 exchange openings in 2017 and none last year. The country is not that high on crypto and it shows. This is why the latest move was met with a positive response by crypto experts, even though it’s still just a loophole.
Public pressure on the legalization of Bitcoin and crypto assets is expected to heat up in the following months. If politicians and parties can receive sizeable donations in BTC, imagine what crypto enthusiasts would be able to do by using Bitcoins.
Crypto Online Gambling to Follow?
All over the world, governments are tweaking laws to accept Bitcoin as a viable payment method. This has led to an increase in Bitcoin casinos, although the legal landscape in Japan is pretty different. Online casinos are illegal in Japan, but that could change pretty soon.
In the past few years, there’s been a lot of debate whether the Japanese government should legalize online gambling. So far, there have been positive reports after politicians saw how much revenue it can bring year after year. If the idea materializes and the push for crypto regulation adds even more pressure to government officials, we could be looking at Japanese Bitcoin casinos soon.
Japanese people love to gamble online and love Bitcoin as well, so why not pair both and keep everyone happy?
