Japan’s recent policy shifts have helped the country more than double its crypto adoption over the past year, according to crypto analytics company Chainalysis.
Among the top five markets in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, Japan saw the strongest growth, with its value received onchain growing 120% year-on-year in the 12 months to June, according to an excerpt from Chainalysis’ 2025 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report released on Wednesday.
Chainalysis’ head of APAC policy, Chengyi Ong, told Cointelegraph that activity in Japan “reflects some of the trends that we saw in the global market, a sharp pickup in trading volumes in the fourth quarter of 2024 on the back of the US presidential election, followed by a tapering.”
Meanwhile, Atsushi Kuwabara, chief business development officer at Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank, told Cointelegraph that the company had seen “steady growth in platform usage year over year” to August for both new and returning users.
Japan has looked to reform its crypto laws to align the sector’s rules with the traditional securities market and change its taxation rules to lower taxes on crypto. Last month, the country’s regulators also greenlit the first stablecoin pegged to the yen.
“Japan’s growth is on the heels of important advances in its crypto industry,” Chainalysis said. “For some time now, regulatory restrictions have constrained the listing of stablecoins on domestic exchanges, although this is now beginning to change.”
Ong said that market activity in Japan “has been stable but subdued relative to regional peers like South Korea,” but crypto use in the country “is likely to be boosted by expectations of upcoming policy changes.”
“It is not surprising that there would be a pickup amid expectations of a more favorable policy and tax environment for crypto trading in the future.”
APAC region sees continued crypto expansion
Chainalysis’ report added that the growth in crypto value received doubled in Indonesia, South Korea and India, which showed “continued expansion but from already high baselines,” while a 55% growth in Vietnam suggested a “maturing market where crypto is already deeply embedded in remittances and everyday financial activity.”
The company noted its report earlier this month found the Asia Pacific was the “fastest-growing region in the world in terms of onchain value received,” with India topping its Global Adoption Index.
In the future, the markets “will be keenly watching” how stablecoins such as USDC (USDC) and the recently greenlighted JPYC gain traction, Chainalysis said.
Stablecoins are a boon to the region’s adoption
Ong said that stablecoins are “becoming a key component in APAC’s crypto adoption trends,” and are prominent across several of the region’s markets.
She added that South Korea, in particular, saw banks take a “keen interest” in the development of stablecoin laws, and Chainalysis reported that stablecoin trading volumes jumped by over 50% early this year, with total purchases reaching $59 billion in the year to June.
“USD-backed stablecoins have gained significant traction in that market,” Ong said. “It will be interesting to see whether that dynamic shifts when we eventually get won-backed stablecoins.”
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She added that Australia “will also be an interesting one to watch in the future” with its recent shift in its treatment of stablecoins.
“Even though legislation has been slow to materialize, regulators recently licensed one stablecoin under the existing financial services regime, and took steps to facilitate usage by granting regulatory relief to distributors,” Ong said.
Crypto use case differs widely by country
Chainalysis reported that the top five growing markets in the region had “strikingly different pathways into crypto,” with each having differing use cases; however, remittances were a recurring theme.
India saw young adults use crypto to trade to boost their income, while a large number of Indians outside of the country used crypto for remittances. Vietnam also used crypto as “everyday infrastructure for remittances, gaming, and savings rather than speculation.”
Pakistan, meanwhile, has a “young, mobile-first population” that uses stablecoins as a hedge against inflation and for payments, while South Korea traded crypto “almost like equities” as new laws are “reshaping activity on major domestic exchanges,” Chainalysis said.
It added that the so-called “smaller markets” of Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong saw steps to align policy and regulatory regimes, aiming for greater and clearer oversight of the sector.
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