Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, said on Wednesday that it would stop doing business in Japan next month, citing the current market conditions in the country and a weak cryptocurrency market around the world.
Kraken said in a statement that it will stop being registered with the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) on January 31. At that time, clients will have to withdraw their fiat and cryptocurrency holdings.
Related: Kraken has been given permission to trade crypto in the United Arab Emirates.
Kraken said it has enough money to make sure that all affected clients can get their money back on time.
Kraken said last month that it would lay off 30% of its employees, or about 1,100 people, because tough market conditions had slowed down demand for digital assets.
This year, Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has lost 60% of its value, and the entire crypto market has shrunk by $1.4 trillion. This is because Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s empire, Celsius, and so-called “stablecoins” terraUSD and Luna have all gone bankrupt.
