Over the past few days, there have been speculations going on that Coinbase couldĀ shut shopĀ in Japan. Clearing the air, Nana Murugesan, Vice President for Business Development and International toldĀ BloombergĀ last week that the exchange decided to wind down āthe majorityā of its operations in the East Asian country.
He additionally revealed that employees were sacked as āmost rolesā were eliminated. Murugesan did not specify how many Japanese employees were impacted by the said move. However, he asserted that a small number of them were retained to cater to the safety and security of customer assets.
On Wednesday, Coinbase officially announced via a blog post that it was āhaltingā operations in Japan. Reasoning out why, the announcement noted,
āDue to market conditions, our company has made the difficult decision to halt operations in Japan and to conduct a complete review of our business in the country.ā
Murugesan, along with Coinbase Japanās GM Nao Kitazawa, asserted that the entity is ācommittedā to making the transition āas smooth as possibleā for its customers.
Coinbase customers can withdraw assets until mid-February
Japan is currently in the midst of loosening its cryptocurrency rules. Towards the end of last year, the government revealed that cryptocurrency exchanges will be able to list tokensĀ without pre-screening. Alongside, the circulation ban on stablecoins like Tether and USD Coin isĀ expected to be reversedĀ this year. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency companies have been flocking out of the country.
Last month, Kraken announced that it willĀ wind up its operationsĀ in Japan. The decision was a part of the exchangeās efforts to āprioritize resources and investmentsā in those areas that aligned with its strategy.
Coinbase announced that customers can withdraw their assets at their earliest convenience. All Japanese customers will have until Feb. 16 to withdraw their fiat and cryptocurrency holdings from the exchange.Ā Parallelly, the fiat deposit functionality will be removed on Jan. 20.
COIN shares have been on a steady incline of late. Over the past week, theyāve appreciated by around 43%. During the pre-market hours on Tuesday, however, they were trading 1.63% lower, bringing to light the change in investor sentiment.