Japanese cryptocurrencies: coins born in Japan, and where they trade

"Japanese crypto" is a fuzzier label than it sounds. On this page a coin counts as Japanese if the issuing company or the core team that launched it is in Japan, or the project was started and led by Japanese founders. Oasys, for instance, is incorporated in Singapore but was started by a mostly Japanese team, so it is included with that caveat spelled out.

Coins that are merely popular in Japan (Symbol, NEM, XRP) get their own section, and so do meme coins that just borrow a Japanese name or a shiba dog. For every token, we checked which exchanges list it against the "crypto assets handled" column of the FSA's register of crypto-asset exchange service providers as of September 30, 2026. The FSA notes on that register that a listing only confirms a token meets the legal definition; it is not a guarantee of value or an endorsement. If you live in Japan, those 27 registered firms are the only places you should buy from. Visitors and readers abroad are bound by their own country's rules.

Japanese cryptocurrency list

"Listed by" means the token appears for that firm on the FSA register. Whether you trade it on an order bookOrder book (取引所, torihikijo): users trade with each other at prices they set. Fees are low, but you place orders yourself. or a dealer desk depends on the exchange.

The spread in availability is the first thing to notice. A token handled by five exchanges is easy to buy and sell; one handled by a single exchange can be hard to exit at a fair price because of thin liquidityHow easily you can buy or sell near the current price. Tokens with little trading have low liquidity and can move sharply on small orders..

The main Japanese coins, one by one

Market-cap ranks come from CoinGecko on October 22, 2026 and are only a rough sense of size, not a forecast.

JASMY

Jasmy Inc. was founded in Tokyo in April 2016 by former Sony executives. Its pitch is an IoT and personal-data platform where people keep control of the data their devices generate. JASMY is an ERC-20The standard format for tokens issued on Ethereum, so wallets and exchanges can handle them in the same way. token, and in October 2021 BITPOINT became the first Japanese exchange to list it. It ranked around 170th by market cap in our snapshot, and it has spent long stretches far below its February 2021 high. In Japan, Binance Japan and BitTrade list it; the BITPOINT brand of SBI VC Trade stops handling it on October 28, 2026 as part of the BITPOINT–VCTRADE merger.

Astar (ASTR)

Astar was founded by Japanese entrepreneur Sota Watanabe, whose company Startale now leads it. Astar Network went live as a Polkadot parachainAn individual blockchain connected to Polkadot's main chain that shares its security. in 2021, and Startale is now best known as Sony's partner on Soneium, an Ethereum layer 2A network that bundles transactions on top of a base chain such as Ethereum to make them cheaper and faster. whose mainnet opened in January 2025. ASTR is the most widely listed Japanese token at home: bitbank, GMO Coin, BitTrade, OKJ and Binance Japan all handle it, GMO Coin offers ASTR staking, and the EPOS crypto card with bitbank (launched April 2026) lets cardholders take rewards in ASTR. Its market-cap rank was around 430th.

Oasys (OAS)

Oasys is a blockchain built for games, started in February 2022 by a mostly Japanese team led by Ryo Matsubara, formerly of the game studio double jump.tokyo. The company sits in Singapore; founders have cited Japanese tax and audit problems for new tokens at the time. Its mainnet launched in December 2022 with a two-layer design, a public base chain plus game-specific "Verse" layers, and its validatorsParticipants who check and approve transactions on a blockchain. On proof-of-stake chains they lock up tokens to take part. included Square Enix, SEGA, Bandai Namco Research and Ubisoft. bitbank was the first Japanese exchange to list OAS, in April 2023. Today bitbank, SBI VC Trade, OKJ and Coin Estate list it. The ecosystem is consolidating: double jump.tokyo announced in May 2026 that its HOME Verse would close. Its rank was around 2,240th. More on Japan's game projects in Web3 games and NFTs in Japan.

Monacoin (MONA)

Monacoin is the closest thing Japan has to a grassroots coin. It was built from Litecoin's code by a developer on 2channel's software board, named after "Mona", the forum's ASCII-art cat, released in beta in December 2013 and launched in January 2014. No company issued it, and it grew up around a culture of tipping on forums and social media. It is listed by four Japanese exchanges, including bitFlyer, where it has traded on the order book, and ranked around 1,410th by market cap.

Palette Token (PLT)

PLT was the subject of Japan's first IEOInitial exchange offering: a token sale run and vetted by an exchange, which then lists the token., held on Coincheck in July 2021. It powered Palette Chain, built by HashPalette for manga, anime and other NFT content. In October 2024, the Aptos Foundation and HashPalette announced that Palette Chain would be folded into the Aptos network, with PLT swappable for APT at a ratio of 1 to 0.00339139. Press reports say Coincheck stopped handling PLT in January 2025; the September 2026 FSA register still lists it at bitFlyer and OKJ. Holders should follow their exchange's instructions for the swap.

FC Ryukyu Coin (FCR)

FCR is a fan token from FC Ryukyu, the professional football club in Okinawa, issued by its operator Ryukyu Football Club Co. It was Japan's first IEO by a professional sports club: GMO Coin opened applications on April 27, 2022 and started order-book trading on May 18. The price fell sharply right after listing. The token's purpose is supporter perks rather than investment, and GMO Coin is its only Japanese venue. We could not find the underlying blockchain stated in the official materials we reviewed. Okinawa's other Web3 activity is in our Okinawa guide.

FISCO Coin (FSCC)

FISCO, a financial information company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, distributed FSCC to its shareholders in June 2016, an early case of a listed company issuing its own token. It is built on Counterparty, a protocol that issues tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. Zaif began handling it in October 2016 and remains its only Japanese exchange; Zaif also lists other tokens from affiliated companies, such as CAICA Coin (CICC) and Nexus Coin (NCXC).

Nippon Idol Token (NIDT)

NIDT is the token of the IDOL3.0 PROJECT, an idol-group venture with Yasushi Akimoto as general producer, issued by Overs Inc. as an ERC-20 token with a fixed supply of 1 billion. Sold in what was counted as Japan's fourth IEO, it began trading on coinbook (now BACKSEAT) and DMM Bitcoin on April 26, 2023. It dropped from its ¥5 sale price to around ¥1.2 soon after listing, then later spiked to around five times the sale price. With DMM Bitcoin's accounts moved to SBI VC Trade, NIDT now also trades on SBI VC Trade's order book.

JPYC

JPYC is a yen stablecoin issued by JPYC Inc. at 1 JPYC = ¥1. Legally it is an electronic payment instrument, not a crypto asset, so you mint it on the JPYC EX platform rather than buying it on an exchange. Cumulative issuance passed ¥10 billion in September 2026. The full explainer is in JPYC and Japanese yen stablecoins.

Popular in Japan, but not Japanese

Some coins are so tied to Japan's crypto scene that they get described as Japanese. They are not, and the difference matters if you are choosing coins for their origin story.

NEM and Symbol have a loyal following among Japanese retail investors. In January 2018, about 523 million XEM, worth roughly ¥58 billion at the time, was stolen from Coincheck, which made "NEM" a household word in Japan. Kaia is half Japanese at most: LINE's Finschia and Korea's Kakao-backed Klaytn merged to launch it in August 2024. XRP was Japan's third most traded coin on spot markets in August 2026, behind only bitcoin and ether, according to the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA).

Japan-themed is not Japanese: meme coins and scams

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu use the image of the Japanese shiba dog, but neither was made by a Japanese team. These meme coinsTokens created around an internet joke or trend. They trade on attention rather than use and can swing wildly in price. are listed by some registered Japanese exchanges, which is a separate question from where they come from.

The riskier pattern is the token named to evoke a Japanese celebrity, politician, anime or town. In February 2026, a meme coin whose name evoked the prime minister launched and collapsed after the prime minister publicly denied any involvement, according to press reports, which also said its issuer was suspected of selling without registration. A Japanese name, a rising sun on the logo or "Japan" in the ticker tells you nothing about who is behind a token.

Where to buy Japanese coins if you live in Japan

Residents should stick to the 27 FSA-registered exchanges. To list a token, a registered exchange goes through the self-regulatory process of the JVCEA, which offshore platforms do not. Our offshore exchanges page explains why platforms such as Bybit and Bitget have left the Japanese market.

Venue matters for cost. bitbank runs every coin on its order book, which makes it a natural place for ASTR, OAS and MONA. MONA also trades at bitFlyer, Coincheck and Zaif; FCR only on GMO Coin's exchange; JASMY at Binance Japan, which has the largest coin list in Japan. On a dealer desk you pay the spread, so for anything beyond a test purchase an order book usually works out cheaper. Each exchange has its own review: bitbank, GMO Coin, bitFlyer and Binance Japan. Opening an account as a foreign resident needs a residence card and a Japanese address; see crypto for foreigners in Japan.

Listings change. BITPOINT's JASMY exit and Coincheck's PLT delisting both came from mergers and migrations, not from anything a holder did. If your exchange emails you about a token you hold, read the deadline. The full roster is in our list of FSA-registered exchanges.

Japan's exchange offerings, and the new disclosure rules

Many Japanese tokens reached the market through an IEO, in which an exchange vets the project, sells the tokens and then lists them. Palette Token on Coincheck in July 2021 was the first. FC Ryukyu Coin followed on GMO Coin in 2022, and Nippon Idol Token in 2023. Coincheck has since run sales for FiNANCiE's FNCT (2023) and Brilliantcrypto's BRIL (2024), and GMO Coin for NOT A HOTEL DAO's NOT A HOTEL COIN (NAC).

The post-listing track record is sobering. FCR and NIDT both traded well below their sale prices shortly after listing. Passing an exchange's review is a compliance check, not a price promise.

The rules are tightening. Amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, enacted on July 15, 2026, will require issuers that raise money through offerings like IEOs to publish information and keep disclosing it, with penalties for false statements. The FSA's working group also proposed caps on how much individuals can invest in tokens from issuers without an audit. The main provisions take effect within one year of promulgation, on a date set by cabinet order. Our guide to Japan's crypto regulation follows the timeline.

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