Coinbase to Halt Operations in Japan, Assures Smooth Transition for Customers

In response to market conditions world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has announced that it will be halting operations in Japan. This news comes less than a month after another major exchange, Kraken, announced its withdrawal from the country.

According to Coinbase, the company  is committed to ensuring that all customers can withdraw their assets at their earliest convenience. Fiat deposit functionality will be removed on January 20th, 2023 JST. All Coinbase Japan customers will have until February 16th, 2023 JST to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings from Coinbase. Customers can choose to withdraw their crypto holdings to any other Virtual Assets Service Provider, Coinbase Wallet, or any other self-hosted wallet of their choice. Alternatively, customers can choose to liquidate their portfolio and withdraw their JPY to a domestic bank account.

According to Coinbase, any remaining crypto holdings held on Coinbase on or after February 17th will be converted to JPY. In the month following February 17th, Coinbase will send any remaining JPY to a Guaranty Account at the Legal Affairs Bureau in accordance with the legal requirements of Japan. In case the customers do not take any action before February 16th, they will have to coordinate with the Legal Affairs Bureau to retrieve their JPY balance.

Coinbase encourages all customers to take action and withdraw their assets before the withdrawal deadline to avoid any complications. Japan is leading the way in crypto regulation, with lawmakers in the country urging regulators around the world to treat cryptocurrencies with the same strictness as they do traditional banks. This call for tougher rules comes on the heels of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, which has brought increased scrutiny to the crypto industry.