Japan’s
Consumer Affairs Agency has reported that 2018 saw a 170% uptick in the
number of consumer queries about cryptocurrencies as compared with the
previous year. The news was reported by Cointelegraph Japan on June 18.
The
Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) is an administrative agency of Japan’s
Cabinet Office — the office responsible for the day-to-day affairs of
the government’s executive branch (the Diet). The CAA submits its report
on the consumer sector and matters of consumer protection to the Diet
each year: last year’s is accessible in English, while this year’s remains to be translated.
The
CAA’s research indicates that in 2018, consumer queries about crypto
exchanges hit 3,657 cases — roughly a 1.7 increase over the previous
year. While the growth rate of such inquiries has slowed — as compared
with 3.5x in 2017 — Cointelegraph Japan notes that growth has been
consistent each year since 2014.
The CAA revealed that the main
content of such inquiries included questions in regard to crypto
exchanges’ credibility, requests for refunds, security-related matters,
difficulties with logins or payments, and difficulties with
crypto-related vendors that fail to respond to clients.
The agency has further revealed that a number of inquiries regarded investment difficulties.
As reported, a report published by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA)
in fall 2018 indicated that the number of enquiries about
cryptocurrencies from Japanese investors declined in the third quarter
of 2018.
This February, the FSA published data for Q4 2018, indicating yet further declines.
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