After five years out of the Japanese market, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has begun the process of establishing a new fully regulated subsidiary in the country. The move follows the acquisition of regulated crypto exchange Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC) in November 2022.
As part of the agreement, SEBC will suspend its current services on May 31 and will reopen as Binance Japan in the coming weeks. Users of the global stock exchange platform in the country must register with the new entity. The migration will be available after August 1, 2023 and will include a new identity verification (KYC) process to meet local requirements.
All remaining funds on the SEBC exchange will be automatically converted to Japanese Yen and transferred to users’ bank accounts starting in June, Binance previously revealed.
With an increasingly tight regulatory landscape, the exchange’s strategy to expand its global reach has been to acquire local regulated entities. Binance made a similar move in Singapore in 2021, in Malaysia in 2022, and in Thailand more recently. In Japan, it closed its operations in 2018, after failing to obtain an independent license from local regulators.
Related: Japan’s Crypto Anti-Money Laundering Crackdown to Begin in June
According to a notice on its website, the exchange will not provide derivative services in Japan. The global version of Binance will not accept new accounts derived from users in the country.
In addition, residents of Japan using the global platform will not be able to increase or open new option positions after June 9. Pending orders will be canceled and existing positions will need to be closed by June 23, the exchange said. Binance Leveraged Tokens will not be available for trading or subscription.
“In the future, we plan to continue to enrich our service offering in Japan and will work closely with regulators to possibly provide derivative services in a fully compliant manner,” the company wrote.
Japan was one of the first nations to introduce crypto regulations. Local laws contributed to the rapid recovery of funds in February at FTX Japan, a subsidiary of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Regulations in Japan require cryptocurrency exchanges to separate customer funds from other assets.
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This post Binance Begins Transition to New Platform in Japan
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