Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the remarks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported.
However, it is “natural” that transactions involving the virtual unit should be taxed, Suga was quoted as saying.
The remarks came about a week after Mt. Gox, a major bitcoin exchange market based in Tokyo, went offline. amid reports that it suffered a debilitating theft.
The move was construed, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, as a “new setback for efforts to gain legitimacy for the virtual currency.”
On March 3, the bitcoin exchange that filed for bankruptcy protection blamed theft through hacking for its losses, AP said.
Mt. Gox was once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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