A cryptocurrency using the name and image of Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suffered a great loss of value after Takaichi’s official statement. Launched on the Solana blockchain and announced without any official approval, SANAE TOKEN experienced a sharp drop of 58 percent in a few hours. While the companies and entrepreneurs stated to be behind the cryptocurrency made a public statement following the events, the Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) launched an investigation into the process.
Sudden Loss of Value in SANAE TOKEN
The fact that Sanae Takaichi has been one of the prominent figures of Japanese politics for many years and the strong results of the LDP in the last election were effective in the launch of SANAE TOKEN. The cryptocurrency was launched on Solana on February 25 as part of the NoBorder DAO community’s project titled “Japan is Back.” Takaichi’s name and illustrations were used on the project website, and beforehand, entrepreneur Yuji Mizoguchi stated in a program on YouTube that they were in contact with Takaichi’s team. This claim increased speculation that the coin has an official connection.
On March 2, Prime Minister Takaichi announced in a post on social media that they did not approve of the project in any way and that his name was used without permission. Takaichi emphasized that neither he nor his office received any information regarding the token bearing his name and no permission was given. After this statement, the price of SANAE TOKEN rapidly decreased from $ 0.0137 to $ 0.0058. The market value decreased to 62 thousand dollars as of March 4.
FSA Launches Investigation
Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) launched an investigation on the companies behind the token. According to the findings, it was revealed that the team that launched the token did not have the FSA’s compulsory cryptocurrency exchange license. In Japan, within the scope of the payment services law, the sale or exchange of crypto assets must be approved by the institution. Those who do not meet these conditions may be sentenced to 5 years in prison or serious fines.
Stating that it was responsible for the design of the token, the company named “neu”, whose CEO is Ken Matsui, shared a message of apology to the public on social media and announced that the entire operation was carried out within its own structure. Yuji Mizoguchi also stated through his posts that the process will be carried out transparently in front of the media and that they will act on the basis of facts. However, the contradiction between the initial statements and Takaichi’s clear stance has still not been resolved. The regulatory body also stated that neu company is not listed on the stock exchange and no application has been made.
Political Meme Tokens and Lack of Regulation
The SANAE TOKEN scandal in Japan brought to the fore the discussions caused by similar meme token initiatives that have recently been associated with politicians around the world. The holding of a large amount of the $TRUMP token named after Donald Trump in the USA by family and partners, and the sudden rise and collapse of the $LIBRA token linked to Argentina President Javier Milei, have re-emerged the question at what point regulations should be made in countries.
There are regulatory gaps in the legislation of many countries because meme tokens do not fully fall within the definition of securities. Japan’s payment services law, on the other hand, requires crypto exchange activities to be licensed, regardless of the token type. On the other hand, in the USA, relevant institutions continue to narrow the definitions in this field and a comprehensive regulation at the federal level has not yet been implemented.
On an international scale, there is no special regulation regarding tokens associated with political figures. This leaves individual investors unprotected against projects that allegedly involve connections with famous names. Industry observers consider that the SANAE TOKEN case in Japan can serve as an example of how to handle similar trends in other countries.
