Kraken Relaunches Crypto Trading in Japan After Two-Year Break
The exchange had shuttered its Japanese services after Coincheck's $530 million hack in 2018 spooked regulators and prompted a crackdown.
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:22 a.m. UTC
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U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken is once more letting Japanese residents fund their accounts and trade crypto on its platform.
- Announced Thursday in a company blog post, Kraken said the move comes as the start of a larger push to expand its services within the Asia-Pacific region.
- The exchange first said it was reopening for Japan's market in September.
- The company had shuttered its local services after the Coincheck exchange's $530 million hack in 2018 spooked local regulators into clamping down on cryptocurrency trading activity.
- As part of the conditions for re-entry, Kraken completed registration as a crypto asset exchange service provider under Japan's Payment Services Act on Sept. 8.
- “In today’s challenging economic environment, more people are turning to cryptocurrencies to hedge against volatile markets," said David Ripley, Kraken's chief operating officer, in comments on the relaunch.
- Crypto deposits in these cryptocurrencies have been restored, as have domestic Japanese yen deposits and withdrawals via SBI Sumishin Net Bank.
- Users can trade via crypto-to-crypto or yen-to-crypto trading pairs.
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