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Japan's FSA Says XRP Not a Security: Report

The regulator's stance contrasts with that of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:56 a.m. Published Jan 13, 2021, 9:56 p.m.
FSA

The top securities watchdog in Japan told The Block Wednesday that it does not consider XRP to be a security, siding against its U.S. counterpart in the debate roiling the token's issuer, Ripple Labs.

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  • The Financial Services Agency said XRP does not meet the definition of a security under Japanese law, The Block reported.
  • While FSA's opinion has no bearing on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's current litigation against Ripple Labs, it highlights the lack of consensus on XRP's status among securities regulators.
  • Japanese financial company SBI Holdings has previously asserted that XRP is a crypto-asset under Japanese law. SBI is a strong supporter of Ripple and the XRP ecosystem.

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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

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Bitcoin hash rate slides during U.S. winter storm while markets shrug off mining disruption

(Zac Durant/Unsplash)

The temporary loss of mining power underscores academic concerns that geographic and pool concentration can magnify infrastructure failures, though markets showed little immediate reaction.

What to know:

  • Bitcoin’s hashrate fell about 10 percent during a U.S. winter storm, underscoring how local power disruptions can strain the network’s capacity to process transactions.
  • Researchers have shown that concentrated mining, as seen in a 2021 regional outage in China, can lead to slower block times, higher fees and broader market disruptions.
  • With a few large pools now controlling most of Bitcoin’s hashrate, the network is increasingly vulnerable to localized infrastructure failures, even as the price of BTC remains largely unaffected in the short term.