Huobi closes doors to Japanese customers

Cryptocurrency exchanger Huobi Pro is suspending trading services for Japanese users from July 2 of this year. The company cites the lack of financial regulations by the Japanese government as the reason for this.

According to Coinpost, the exchange operator announced its impending exit from the Japanese market in an email sent to all users on Thursday. The Seychelles-based company will also remove all Internet pages targeting Japanese users on July 2. 

Although Huobi Pro did not publish a public statement in the press, the report indicates that the exchanger refuses to conduct cryptocurrency activities in Japan due to lack of registration with the Financial Services Agency, the country's financial regulator. A bill passed in 2016 stipulates that crypto exchange operators must register in accordance with established rules.

In January of this year, the platform announced a “strategic partnership” with Japanese financial giant SBI, but in early March, SBI terminated all agreements and focused on creating its own crypto exchange, which was launched in June.

Huobi Pro is not the only company to leave the Japanese market. Earlier this month, Hong Kong exchange HitBTC announced it was “temporarily suspending services to Japanese clients due to unclear requirements from the Financial Services Agency.” Representatives of HitBTC also added that they are negotiating with the regulator, during which the company expressed a desire to launch a jointly regulated exchanger in the future.

According to ccn.com