Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges functioning, has just announced that it will be ceasing its operations in Japan for the time being.
The move could be a result of increased regulations and sky-high operational costs with the Japanese cryptocurrency market.
In an article?Bloomberg?published, Kraken stated:
“Suspending our services for Japan residents allows us to higher focus on our resources to elevate in other geographical areas.” They reassured their numerous customers if you get: “This is a localised suspension and services information that only affects residents of Japan and will not impact services for Japanese citizens or businesses domiciled without using Japan”.
For a while now, Japan is cited to be the hub for crypto activity by the cryptocurrency community. A large number of Japanese organizations happen to be hopping to the cryptocurrency bandwagon. Internet companies have shown growing interest in dipping in the rising market. As one example,?Yahoo Japan?recently announced the buying of a cryptocurrency exchange.
Along with companies, it seems the general public has moderately dewrinkled to the sector in addition. R25 conducted a survey where it was reported that approximately 14% of Japanese males within the age bracket of 25 to 30 own cryptocurrency.
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Even as you move Japanese public’s acceptance of cryptocurrency is increasing, increasing government regulations have cropped up following on from the $560 Million hack of Coincheck. Several calls are made by investors and members of the public for increased scrutiny with the exchanges to prevent a future occurrence.
The Japanese Financial Services Agency designed a move towards protecting the market by requiring licenses for exchanges as well as a higher level of security. This resulted in a lot of closures as some exchanges couldn’t meet these demands.
Kraken, alternatively, obtained the desired authority to work in Japan with no license nonetheless the American-based company wasn’t a crowd’s favorite.
Over the path of its 3-year existence in Japan, Kraken was not ever able to attain the volume it necessary to justify its existence in Japan. Adjusted April 17th, the BTC/JPY pair included a measly 0.9% in the exchange’s total volume, minuscule as opposed to BTC/USD pair’s total volume.
