Trump Confirms Xi Meeting as Japan Eases Crypto Regulations

Today in crypto, Trump confirms meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, Japan’s Financial Services Agency is weighing reforms that could let banks hold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm warns open-source developers of retroactive prosecution.

Trump confirms meeting with China’s president, causing crypto to surge

United States President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Seoul, South Korea, on October 31, backtracking on his previous comments that there was “no reason” to attend the meeting.

“We’re going to meet in a couple of weeks. We’re going to meet in South Korea, with president Xi and other people, too,” Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. He added:

“[Xi Jinping] is a very strong leader, a very amazing man. You can look at what he’s done, where he is in his life. It is an amazing story. It’s a story for a great movie. I think we’re gonna be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It’s going to be fair.”

Crypto markets reacted positively to the news, as any development that eases geopolitical and trade tensions tends to boost assets perceived as riskier by investors. 

Japan’s FSA weighs allowing banks to hold Bitcoin, other cryptos

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is reportedly preparing to review regulations that could allow banks to acquire and hold cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for investment purposes.

The move would mark a major policy shift, as current supervisory guidelines, revised in 2020, effectively ban banks from holding crypto due to volatility risks, according to a Sunday report from Livedoor News.

Per the report, the FSA plans to discuss the reform at an upcoming meeting of the Financial Services Council, an advisory body to the Prime Minister. The initiative aims to align crypto asset management with traditional financial products like stocks and government bonds.

Regulators are expected to explore a framework for managing crypto-related risks, such as sharp price swings that could impact a bank’s financial health. If approved, the FSA will likely impose capital and risk-management requirements before permitting banks to hold digital assets.

Roman Storm warns open-source developers of retroactive prosecution

Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm warned open source software developers, particularly those working on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, that they could be retroactively prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

Storm asked the DeFi developers in a Saturday X post: “How can you be so sure you won’t be charged by the DOJ as a money service business (MSB) for building a non-custodial protocol?”

“If the Southern District of New York (SDNY) can charge a dev for building a non-custodial protocol, who is safe? My case is still ongoing,” he continued.

The verdict in the Roman Storm case has major legal implications for open source software development in the United States and sets a dangerous legal precedent for developers, who are not currently protected from prosecution.