WebX 2026 Tokyo: Traditional Financial Institutions Enter as Major Sponsors as Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act Reform Accelerates, with Tax Rate Proposed to be Reduced to 20%

As the Japanese House of Representatives passes amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), formally positioning crypto assets as "financial instruments" and moving toward a key phase of substantially reducing the applicable crypto transaction income tax rate from a maximum of 55% to approximately 20% under separate taxation, the Asian flagship Web3 conference, WebX 2026, will unveil its latest roster of global speakers and sponsors in Tokyo.

The biggest highlight this year is the significant participation of traditional financial institutions. Global giants such as Mastercard, Fidelity International, Franklin Templeton, Swift, and SBI Holdings have all become key sponsors or are sending executives to speak, signaling that traditional financial capital is accelerating its embrace of the Asian Web3 market. The conference will be held on July 13-14, 2026, at the Prince Park Tower Tokyo.

This series of reforms is accelerating the transformation of Japan's crypto asset ecosystem into investment-oriented financial assets, significantly enhancing regulatory certainty and institutional participation convenience. This provides an important strategic window for Asian investors, particularly those from China, offering geographic proximity, a favorable policy environment, and optimized tax burdens. With its clear rules and tax advantages, Japan is emerging as a regional hub for digital asset innovation.

Amidst the backdrop of accelerating institutional adoption and a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, the two-day agenda will focus on the next phase of digital asset industry development, including stablecoin applications, AI, tokenization, and the evolution of regulatory frameworks.

Agenda Highlights

Keynote speeches include a special address by Tom Lee, Chairman of Bitmine, alongside panel discussions such as "Asia’s Crypto Powerhouse: Strong Growth Driven by Policy, Liquidity, and Trust" and "Stablecoins in Action: Reshaping Retail Payments in Asia Pacific."

The agenda will continue to be updated, delving into frontier topics like tokenized capital markets, digital asset regulation, and artificial intelligence from the perspectives of global financial institutions, technology companies, and policymakers.

Invited Speakers

• Tom Lee (Chairman of Bitmine)
• Franklin Bi (General Partner, Pantera Capital)
• Yoshitaka Kitao (Representative Director, Chairman, President & CEO, SBI Holdings)
• Giselle Lai (Director of Digital Asset Strategy, Asia Pacific, Fidelity International)
• Christian Rau (Senior Vice President, Digital Assets & Blockchain, Mastercard)
• Carole House (Former White House Advisor, CEO of Penumbra Strategies)
• Chetan Karkhanis (Senior Vice President, Franklin Templeton)
• Fiona Murray (Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Ripple)
• David Walsh (Head of Enterprise, Ethereum Foundation)
• Avalon Ingram (Head of Digital Assets Business, Swift)
• Sunayana Tuteja (Former Chief Innovation Officer, Federal Reserve System)
• Takafumi Horie
• More speakers to be announced

Global Partner Support

WebX 2026 has secured support from top global partners. Newly joined Title Sponsor Advasa rounds out the main sponsorship lineup alongside Bitbank, bitFlyer, BitLending, eole Inc., SBI Holdings, Simplex, and UPCX.

Platinum sponsors include Canton, Sun Sun House, Fireblocks, Gonka, MetaPlanet, and TRON. The deep involvement of traditional financial institutions and infrastructure giants underscores how WebX has become a core platform for institutions exploring blockchain adoption and industry collaboration.

Makoto Aoki, Chairman of WebX, stated: "The pace of change in the digital asset space continues to accelerate, driven by greater institutional participation, progress in payment infrastructure, and increased regulatory clarity in major markets. WebX will bring together the institutions, policymakers, and innovators shaping these developments, creating a premier platform for exchanging ideas, fostering collaboration, and discussing the industry's future."

For the full conference agenda, list of speakers, and sponsors, please visit: https://webx-asia.com/

About WebX

WebX 2026 is Asia's flagship Web3 and blockchain conference, planned and hosted by CoinPost, Japan's largest crypto media outlet. Since its inception, WebX has become a vital platform connecting global leaders in the Web3, crypto asset, and blockchain ecosystem. The 2025 conference attracted over 14,000 attendees from more than 90 countries. Past speakers include former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Binance CEO Richard Teng, TRON Founder Justin Sun, and others.