Japan’s FSA requested Apple and Google to remove five crypto exchanges from its app stores. The FSA claims that these exchanges are unregistered and did not meet compliance despite past warnings.
The businesses in question are KuCoin, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC Global, and LBank Exchange. Several of them had been trying to reach compliance in other jurisdictions.
Japan Bans Five Exchanges
According to local reports, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has asked Apple and Google to block downloads for five crypto exchanges.
Specifically, the FSA targeted KuCoin, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC Global, and LBank Exchange. As BeInCrypto reported earlier, the regulator previously warned these businesses about failing to comply with registration requirements. It seems these warnings went unheeded.
Despite this crackdown on unregistered exchanges, Japan has actually made several recent overtures to the crypto industry. For example, the FSA began reviewing crypto tax laws last year in an attempt to lower them.
Lawmakers have also started advocating for a Bitcoin Reserve, and some ETF issuers believe a Bitcoin ETF is nearing approval.
Despite the positive momentum, the regulator cannot ignore flagrant violations like these exchanges were committing. It seems that none of the firms in question made any attempt to reach compliance since the warning in September.
Only Bybit has released a statement, and it seems to ignore the problem outright:
“We want to clarify recent discussions about Bybit’s services to our Japanese language users. Bybit is continuing to offer services to Japanese language users. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We are committed to working closely with the authority to ensure we meet all local regulatory expectations,” it claimed.
It’s very unclear what the firm means by this. When Deribit exited Russia yesterday, the company’s statements made it clear that Russian users abroad can only access its services under very specific conditions.
Will these exchanges claim similar exceptions for users outside Japan? Whatever the new terms are, they seem poorly thought out.
The most confusing element is that most of these exchanges have sought to improve regulatory compliance in countries other than Japan. Bybit acquired a license in India yesterday, and KuCoin reached a settlement with the US last month.
Also, Bitget has a proactive strategy to fulfill EU requirements. Japan warned these companies months ago, but they seemingly did nothing.
“These platforms were low-key trading crypto in Japan without the right paperwork, and now their users are left exposed. No legal protection, no oversight—just pure chaos. Japan’s putting the crypto world on notice: follow the rules or face the consequences,” Mario Nawfal wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Overall, it’s unclear how long these exchanges will be banned in Japan or if they’re even interested in returning. This incident will serve as one more data point in a sordid chart of fines, bans, and criminal charges.
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