While US President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve was eagerly awaited, the issue of BTC reserves came to the fore in many countries. One of these was Japan. However, Japan was among the countries that were not keen on Bitcoin reserves. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that his government currently does not have enough information about the Bitcoin strategic reserve plans of the United States and other countries, local news agency CoinPost reported. Stating that Japan cannot yet decide whether to implement a Bitcoin reserve, Ishiba said, “It is difficult for the government to express its views on Bitcoin.” The prime minister’s response came to a question from People’s Protection Party Councilor Satoshi Hamada. Hamada said, “I think Japan should consider following the example of the United States and converting some of its foreign exchange reserves into crypto assets such as Bitcoin,” and asked the government for an official opinion on the matter. In response, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba said that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin do not fall into the category of foreign exchange and added that “the government considers that the volatility of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, is inconsistent with the current system.” The prime minister’s response once again shows that the Japanese government is cautious about including cryptocurrencies in its national reserve strategy, while Trump and Republican lawmakers continue to move forward with creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the Fed would not participate in the Bitcoin reserve plan. *This is not investment advice.
