A popular US-based cryptocurrency platform – Kraken, has just announced they will cease operations in Japan later next month.
This is due to the ongoing market conditions and a weak cryptocurrency market globally, said Kraken. The platform asked Japan-based customers to withdraw their funds on or before January 31st, 2023, with deposits halting on January 9th.
Closing the Shop in Japan
The current turmoil on the cryptocurrency market has everyone involved in it, affected. Even the big exchanges and projects are forced to cut costs in some way and stay afloat to see the brighter days ahead.
Well, in this pursuit, Kraken is shutting down it’s Japan-based division on January 31st, 2023! Announcing this move on Wednesday, the US cryptocurrency platform said
“Current market conditions in Japan, in combination with a weak crypto market globally, mean the resources needed to further grow our business in Japan aren’t justified at this time.”
Informing the local users that it’ll deregister with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (JFSA) later next month, Kraken asked users to withdraw all their fiat and cryptocurrency funds before the due date.
The exchange will block any new deposits after January 8th, while the trading continues until the last date of operation. Although, it’s advised to move your funds before that. Kraken said it’s fully funded to meet all the withdrawal requests of it’s Japan wing.
This announcement comes less than a month after the company fired 30% of it’s workforce – about 1,100 employees – citing the above same reasons. Well, it’s not just Kraken, but the whole industry is suffering from the cryptocurrency downfall this year. Since January 2022, Bitcoin has fallen by 60%, and the entire market lost $1.4 trillion in it’s valuation.
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