Japan's Finance Minister Designates 2026 as the 'Digital First Year,' Supporting the Promotion of Digital Assets via Exchanges According to CoinPost, Japan's Minister of Finance and Financial Services, Saki Katayama, stated at the Tokyo Stock Exchange's New Year opening ceremony that 2026 will be designated as the 'Digital First Year.' She emphasized the critical role of commodity and securities exchanges in promoting the adoption of digital assets and blockchain assets. She pointed out that to ensure citizens truly benefit from digital assets, their adoption should be driven through exchange infrastructure. Additionally, she mentioned the trend in the U.S. of using ETFs to hedge against inflation, hinting that Japan should also actively pursue similar developments. She expressed her full support, as the financial supervisory minister, for exchanges in building an advanced digital asset trading environment.