11th February 2025 > > Japan, CAR, & Wales.

tl;dr

Japan and the Central African Republic have started their crypto journey, with differing levels of enthusiasm. Wales probably never will.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

February has seen only a small net inflow to the spot BTC ETFs of just $15mm due to investors’ concerns regarding the Trump tariff wars. In the circumstances the price of BTC is remarkably well-behaved trading within a $5k bank for the last week.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Japan

2025 might turn out to be a pivotal year for cryptos in Japan.

The Nikkei has reported that the FSA of Japan has initiated a process to assess whether cryptos should be classified as being on a par with other more traditional securities such as shares. The initial findings will be reported in June with potential legislation introduced later this year.

If the outcome is that cryptos are classified as securities this will open up a number of avenues for crypto adoption. Spot ETFs will become possible allowing retail customers safe and secure custody of crypto assets. Institutional investors will have the opportunity of getting involved using regulated banks as custodians, something that is denied to them right now. The Government Pension Fund is already exploring the possibility of using BTC, and the question of a BTC strategic reserve will undoubtedly come up in conversation.

The US’s drive to become the global leader for cryptos is forcing other countries to move rather more quickly on their own crypto journey than would otherwise be the case.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Central African Republic (CAR)

CAR is moving more quickly than any other country bar El Salvador, but I am unconvinced that this is good news.

On Sunday, President of CAR, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, announced the country was issuing its own meme coin, called CAR:

As is the way of these things, the initial reaction drove the market capitalisation to $830mm before fears of it being a scam meant it lost 90% of its value in pretty short order, from which it has not recovered.

Still, Faustin-Archange claims it has been a success, and who am I to doubt his judgement.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Wales

One country that will remain a laggard in crypto terms is Wales.

There is a peculiar type of national politician which introduces a blanket 20mph speed limit on all roads, creating total havoc for the bus timetable, and severely hampering the movement of materials and goods in a deliberate act of self-harm from a productivity point of view. The same politicians are hell-bent on making tourists feel unwelcome, or at least those from England who are the most frequent visitors, hurting their most important industry, an attitude that defies belief.

There is also a peculiar type of local politician who refuses the possibility of receiving a large windfall to benefit its local residents or, more likely, use it to further gold-plate public sector pensions. Yep, Newport is back in the news.

To recap, James Howells mined over 7,500 BTC back in 2009, now worth approximately $750mm. During a clear-out, his then girlfriend threw out the hard drive in 2013 which has ended up in the local tip. Armed with funding from a collection of hedge funds and other bounty hunters, James offered the council $50mm to let him search for the hard drive, a request that was refused on completely spurious grounds. Specifically, the council claimed that closing the landfill to allow the search to go ahead “would have a detrimental impact on the people of Newport”.

Now it transpires that the council has been planning all along to close the landfill site permanently in the 2025-2026 financial year, making the refusal to help James appear both spiteful and stupid. James is now trying to buy the landfill site. We all wish him the best of luck in his quest to retrieve the missing hard drive.

I don’t see any prospect of the Welsh local and national government embracing the crypto revolution anytime soon.