[2018-04-19] Kraken Set to Quit the Japanese Cryptocurrency Market

[Vladdirescu87]

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, with headquarters in San Francisco, announced on Tuesday, April 17, that it has stopped its activity on the Japanese financial market because of the high operation cost there. However, the company hinted it could come back, with Japan being one of the world’s biggest bitcoin trading centres.

“Suspending services for Japan residents will allow us to better focus on our resources to improve in other geographical areas,” the company said in a statement.

Read the details in the article of Coinidol dot com, the world blockchain news outlet: https://coinidol.com/kraken-to-quit-japanese-cryptocurrency-market/

[1714063396]

1714063396

[1714063396]

1714063396

[IconFirm]

Quiting the biggest & one of the most crypto-friendly countries makes no sense whatsoever.

Something smells at Kraken.

[Kemarit]

Quiting the biggest & one of the most crypto-friendly countries makes no sense whatsoever.

Something smells at Kraken.

I 100% agree. It makes zero sense quitting the biggest market and saying that because of high operational cost? Japan is the leader as far as trading per 24 hours and I'm sure that they can get a small slice on that pie to at least maintain or even get a good profit business wise. Maybe Japanese government put a strong regulation, but its purely speculation as of this time. Let's see how it goes, I'm pretty sure that its' one of the worst business decision they are going to take if ever they really quit Japanese market for good.

[squatter]

Quiting the biggest & one of the most crypto-friendly countries makes no sense whatsoever.

Something smells at Kraken.

Consider this. Binance recently received a warning letter from Japan's financial regulator for operating without license and registration.

Per Reuters:

The regulator said Binance likely allowed Japanese residents to open accounts without confirming their identities, adding that the exchange would face criminal charges if it continued to do business without a license.

That warning was a message to many exchanges, like Kraken, who have been operating outside the law for years in Japan. Jesse Powell is smart enough to know when to cover his ass and bow out of the market.

[FrueGreads]

Isn't this the third exchanges that decides to make a similar move. I'm not sure there anything fishy with Kraken, I guess that Japan government is starting to tighten regulation. I do think most exchanges, although being million dollars companies, are still far behind the typical fin-tech companies, and are having a hard time upgrading their way of doing business.

I don't know what's going on with Japan, but I can't say they are doing a bad job if they decide to create harder rules for exchanges to operate. Right now most exchanges are definitely designed for retail investors, and we need them to grow, if we want institutional investors to come abroad.

[Rustamm]

It is a pity that this happens with the next crypto-currency market in Japan. The market, of course, needs to be regulated. It is possible that exchanges that do not want to enter their customers' identities or pass on their data to the relevant state authorities will have to open either in countries with suitable legislation or even open in offshore zones where this should not be a problem. In general, I still assess the current situation as a working one and do not see any big problems. While the states will not finish with the legalization of the crypto currency and the solution of all related issues, including taxation, then such situations will arise.

[Harlot]

Quiting the biggest & one of the most crypto-friendly countries makes no sense whatsoever.

Something smells at Kraken.

No suspicions here Kraken is a foreign company and having business internationally is really a tough one. One of the obvious reasons why Kraken pulled out of the Japanese market aside from operational cost, taxes, and competition is the more strict implementation of new and stricter set of regulations laid out by the government because of the recent hack in their exchanges. This made the company harder to keep up as it will be harder to maintain customers.

Their only option as of right now if they want to enter the Japanese market is to venture out with  domestic company who is willing to manager their operations, at least that is how I view their contingency plan.

[MaydayMayday]

Quiting the biggest & one of the most crypto-friendly countries makes no sense whatsoever.

Something smells at Kraken.

Yep. You can suffer high operational costs and continue operating just in order not to loose your market share, strange decision