Even if Bitcoin’s price has recovered to where it was before the FTX crash, the sector is still feeling the effects of the contagion, as seen by the closure of the Coinbase crypto exchange in Japan.
Coinbase stated on January 18 that it would cease all activities in Japan and fully evaluate its company there owing to the current market situation to serve its customers better.
All Coinbase Japan users have until February 16 to withdraw any funds stored on the exchange. Customers in Japan who use Coinbase will have any remaining cryptocurrency converted to yen on or after February 17. As of January 20, deposits in fiat currencies will no longer be accepted.
Coinbase is halting operations in Japan, less than a month after another major digital asset exchange Kraken announced its withdrawal from the country https://t.co/3rRIRxb8A8
— Bloomberg (@business) January 18, 2023
The company clarified that customers might transfer their funds to another virtual asset service provider, a self-custodial wallet, or the company’s own Coinbase Wallet. Customers can cash out their holdings and deposit them into a local bank account.
Coinbase assured its consumers that they might access their funds anytime, emphasising the platform’s dedication to making the service termination as painless as possible.
Coinbase’s decision to leave Japan mirrors Kraken, another worldwide cryptocurrency exchange, which will also leave the nation in late 2022. The market for cryptocurrencies is in turmoil, the crypto exchange claimed, describing a situation it encountered in Japan.
Kraken laid off 30% of its workers shortly after the FTX exchange crashed in November 2022, and Coinbase cut its workforce by the same percentage. In January, Coinbase announced a further 20% reduction in its personnel, following an 18% decrease in the previous year.
According to CoinGecko, daily trade volumes on Coinbase totalled $1.98 billion as of the time of writing, down roughly 1.3% from late November 2022. More than 6% of monthly visitors to Coinbase were lost during this time.
