The popular cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken has planned to de-register itself from Japan’s Financial Services Agency as a crypto asset exchange from January 31, 2023.
This global crypto exchange’s decision to pull its operations in Japan for the second time is cited due to the strain on resources amidst the weak crypto market in the country. The exchange indicated this is an effort to “prioritize resources” and “investments”. As a result, Kraken will stop servicing clients in Japan through Payward Asia.
Payward Asia is the subsidiary of Kraken‘s Japanese – facing exchange. The same subsidiary company operated in Japan from 2014 to 2018 but after the decision to pull out its operations in April 2018 to focus on resources in “other geographical areas.” Going further in October 2020, the subsidiary took the plunge to relaunch itself with a headquarter in Tokyo. Here, it offered spot trading on five major assets.
However, its second iteration also seems to come to an end in Japan with Kraken deciding to withdraw operations after January 2023. With this decision, Kraken has committed to allowing its affected clients to withdraw their funds by January, 31.
The users who withdraw their crypto holdings would be allowed to convert their portfolio to Japanese Yen and transfer them to their respective bank accounts. The exchange would remove its withdrawal limit and will also allow users to retrieve their staked Ether from the exchange. However, deposits would be disabled from January 9, 2023, even though the primary trading function would remain active.
The exchange reasoned this decision the result of lower trading volumes and fewer sign–ups which restricted their long-term business sustainability.
