Bitget Wallet has joined Japan's Blockchain Collaborative Consortium (BCCC), marking the self-custodial wallet's first formal participation in Japanese industry policy discussions. According to reports from crypto.news, the wallet serves more than 100 million users and supports integrations with over 130 blockchains. BCCC was founded in 2016 as Japan's first blockchain industry association and now represents more than 270 companies and organizations across the blockchain sector. However, membership does not provide regulatory approval - the consortium is an association that hosts policy discussions, while Japanese authorities retain the power to decide actual regulations.
The membership comes after new Japanese rules for cryptocurrency service intermediaries took effect in June 2026, putting increased attention on regulatory distinctions between custodial businesses and platforms that do not take control of customer assets. As reported by crypto.news, BCCC operates committees covering blockchain technology, financial services, DeFi, and stablecoins, where members discuss use cases and regulatory issues with policymakers. The consortium's committees will provide Bitget Wallet with a platform to share experience gained from operating across international markets and contribute to discussions around wallet standards, DeFi regulation and consumer understanding of self-custody. Japan is currently considering how to differentiate between companies that hold customers' crypto and wallets that allow users to control their own assets.
Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan emphasized that Japan is one of the few markets where technology development and regulatory clarity are advancing in parallel. According to the company statement shared with crypto.news, self-custody is becoming part of Japan's formal policy debate, creating a need for standards that protect users while accounting for how self-custodial products operate. The company plans to use its BCCC membership to bring practical experience from global markets into regulatory conversations and help build frameworks that are useful for users and workable for the industry. As Kan noted, "As self-custody becomes part of the formal policy discussion, the industry needs standards that protect users without losing sight of how these products actually work."
In July, Bitget Wallet introduced Assetback, a feature allowing eligible card users to automatically convert purchase rewards into assets including Bitcoin, tokenized gold, tokenized U.S. equities and USDC. As reported by crypto.news, the company had more than 100 million users and spending through its card had nearly tripled during the first half of 2026. The company reported monthly crypto card payment volume of $656 million in May, compared with $271 million a year earlier, though these figures were company-provided and had not been independently audited.
The BCCC membership involves Bitget Wallet, a self-custodial product, while the Bitget centralized cryptocurrency exchange has faced different regulatory challenges in Japan. According to crypto.news, the exchange began withdrawing services from Japan in August after repeated warnings from local regulators, with restrictions applying to existing resident accounts from November 1. Japan's regulatory framework has been expanding throughout 2026, with the Financial Services Agency establishing a dedicated Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division in August and advancing legislation to classify digital assets as financial instruments under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The challenge for policymakers is that users control their own assets in self-custody, making some exchange-focused rules unsuitable for wallets that simply issue access tools.
