Japanese government appoints a crypto-friendly official as the next commissioner of the Financial Service Agency.

A crypto-friendly official has been named as the next leader of Japan’s Financial Services Agency. According to the Jiji Press report, the Japanese government has decided to appoint Ryozo Himino to the next commissioner of Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). The official announcement will be made later this month. Ryozo Himino is currently the International Financial Deputy Counselor, which is known on the international stage. Last year, he became the first Japanese Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

FSA’s new commissioner is crypto-friendly.

Ryozo Himino is considered sympathetic to the crypto industry. He was instrumental in the FSA’s decision to invite Blockstream’s Adam Back to a seminar last year held along with G20 Fukuoka in the country. The Financial Service Agency acknowledged Adam Back as “a legendary cypherpunk” who wants to change the world with cryptography. Partner at Morgan Creek, Anthony Pompoliano tweeted that Japan’s Financial Services Agency is a big proponent of Bitcoin and Lightning Network. During the last few years, the FSA appeared to become more strict about the crypto industry during his term with two controversial cryptocurrency-related laws introduced this May.

Japan’s central bank experiments with a digital national currency.

As reported earlier, Japan’s central bank has announced that it will begin experimenting with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to check its feasibility from a technical perspective. The Bank of Japan expressed its interest in creating a centralized digital version of its national currency yen. This is the first time that the Bank of Japan as revealed that it would commence a Proof of Concept process with the digital yen, but the bank is yet to reveal a timetable. The central bank stated that it would “check the feasibility of the centralized digital currency from technical perspectives, collaborate with other central banks and relevant institutions, and consider introducing a CBDC.