Binance to stop serving crypto traders in Japan

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Updated on Mar 11, 2020

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Malta-based crypto exchange, Binance, recently announced that it plans to stop serving Japanese traders.
The exchange did not reveal when the restrictions will arrive, but it did say that they would be introduced gradually.
The new decision likely comes due to the lack of a national exchange license, which was the reason why Binance left Japan back in March 2018, after relocating there from China.

Recently, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance, announced on its Japanese support website that it will stop serving the country’s crypto traders in the near future. The exchange did not reveal the date when the new restrictions would come into place,

According to the announcement, the exchange plans to introduce restrictions gradually, and for now, Japan’s residents are able to use the exchange without any issues. The exchange noted that it will publish further details in due time.

As many are likely aware, Binance was originally founded in China. However, after it became apparent that China will not support crypto trading, the exchange first relocated to Japan. Soon after that, the exchange changed its plans, and decided to leave Japan as well, and relocate to Malta.

Exchanges struggle to get licenses in Japan

The decision to leave its first choice came after Binance received a warning from Japan’s regulators, due to the fact that it did not have a national exchange license.

Since then, the regulator allowed a number of other exchanges to register, including Binance’s major rival, Huobi. Huobi was able to receive a license about a year ago, in January 2019. It was not the only one, either, as Japan’s company LINE created its own, BitBox exchange, which also got a license a few months ago, in September.

However, Binance was not the only exchange that faced difficulties in Japan, and it certainly was not the only one to stop serving Japanese customers. Another major crypto exchange, Kraken, decided to stop serving the country’s traders as far back as in April 2018.

Back then, Kraken noted that the reason for this was the growing costs, although many assume that the problem that the exchange encountered was the licensing requirement.