The poor global crypto market and challenging market conditions in Japan have led the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to decide to cease operations there.
The company thinks the resources needed to expand its operations in Japan are not justified by the ongoing difficulties.
According to CoinMarketCap data, Kraken is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, handling a daily trading volume of $434.1 million.
On January 31, 2023, the business will cease to be registered with the Financial Services Agency of Japan, and its subsidiary Payward Asia will no longer provide services to customers in Japan.
On January 9, 2023, Kraken will disable the deposit feature on its platform. However, Kraken users in Japan will have till the end of the following month to withdraw their fiat and cryptocurrency assets.
However, Kraken users in Japan will have till the end of the following month to withdraw their fiat and cryptocurrency assets.
Kraken is leaving the Japanese market for the second time.
The business had already left Japan in 2018, citing the country’s escalating business costs as the reason.
In 2020, the company resumed operations after receiving regulatory approval.
Due to the FTX debacle weakening the crypto markets, Kraken just revealed that it intends to fire 1,100 employees, or approximately one-third of its workforce.
As rising interest rates have scared investors away from risky investments, the cryptocurrency sector has been severely damaged this year.
Investor sentiment has been significantly damaged by the bankruptcy of FTX and the scandal that surrounds it.
The largest token in the world, Bitcoin (BTC-USD), has fallen more than 64% so far this year.
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