Japan's crypto market is moving away from retail-led speculation as regulators tighten frameworks aimed at institutional use. In 2025, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) said exchange accounts exceeded 12 million and custody assets surpassed $31 billion (¥5 trillion) as of January 2025, while a February 2026 working-group proposal backed bringing crypto under securities-style oversight.

April 7 marks the opening of Tokyo’s Teamz Summit, where policymakers and industry figures are debating whether Japan can grow into a more institution-ready crypto hub. Regulators point to scale already in place, including more than 12 million exchange accounts and over $31 billion in custodial user assets by end-January 2025, alongside about $10 billion in February 2026 spot volume. The thesis is that Tokyo’s advantage may come less from speculation and more from compliant rails, as the FSA considers a 2026 shift of cryptoassets toward FIEA-style oversight.

Over a four-day trading week, bitcoin spot ETFs ended with net inflows of $22.34 million despite choppy day-to-day moves. Ether ETFs logged $42.15 million in net outflows, while Solana and XRP ETFs also posted weekly redemptions of $5.2 million and $3.56 million.

President Donald Trump has appointed Todd Blanche as interim U.S. Attorney General, replacing Pam Bondi, after a Justice Department shake-up. Earlier this year, Blanche shut down the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and told prosecutors to avoid cases based mainly on regulatory violations. A July 2025 disclosure says he moved crypto and Coinbase shares to family members before taking office, while reports said he still held $159,000 to $485,000 in crypto when he signed an enforcement memo.

Crypto ETF flows reversed after two days of inflows, led by bitcoin products posting $173.73 million in net redemptions. Ether ETFs also slipped to a $7.10 million outflow even as several funds took in money, while XRP ETFs saw a $1.32 million exit and Solana ETFs again showed no activity.

Plume has started a payroll pilot that lets employees take a portion of their wages in WisdomTree’s WTGXX, a regulated tokenized money market fund. Built with partners Toku and WisdomTree, the model delivers a yield-bearing asset at payday rather than paying only cash-like stablecoins. Plume will begin with its own staff while exploring whether payroll can become a broader channel for onchain financial products.

Bitcoin and ether ETFs posted a second consecutive session of net inflows, with bitcoin funds taking in $117.63 million and ether funds adding $31.17 million. Bitcoin ETF trading volume reached $3.11 billion with net assets at $87.46 billion, while ether ETF volume hit $1.03 billion and net assets rose to $11.98 billion. In contrast, XRP and solana ETFs saw no trading activity, ending with net assets of $943.73 million and $805.84 million, respectively.

Bitcoin ETFs started the week with a $69.44 million net inflow, led by ARKB ($33.03 million) and FBTC ($28.89 million), while total net assets slipped to $85.47 billion. Ether ETFs turned positive after eight straight outflow days, logging a $4.96 million net inflow despite a $9.76 million withdrawal from ETHA. In contrast, XRP ETFs saw a $2.31 million outflow and Solana ETFs posted a $6.17 million outflow, as smaller products continued to face selling pressure.

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule that could permit 401(k) plans to add cryptocurrencies and other private-market investments, while leaving final inclusion decisions to plan fiduciaries. The proposal would start a 60-day public comment period before regulators decide whether to finalize it, as supporters cite diversification benefits and critics warn about volatility, valuation challenges, and liquidity risks.