Cryptocurrency exchange Hitbtc has temporarily suspended service bidders from Japan. This decision is dictated by the absence from the Hong Kong site licence needed to operate in the country.
The exchange has also made the appropriate changes to the terms of service. Updated the legal information page States:
“It is forbidden to use our services and it is strongly recommended to stop using them, to persons who are residents or are in the process of obtaining resident status of the state or region where the activity is not sanctioned by Hitbtc. In order to avoid any kind of doubt and to comply with the Act on payment services of Japan, Hitbtc is temporarily suspending the provision of virtual (crypto) trade to residents of Japan.”
Representatives of the exchange said: “if our technology detects what IP address your device was in Japan, you will need to provide information about your location by using the procedure KYC”.
The exchange stressed that the restrictions apply only to those who live in the country.
Hitbtc continues to work with local lawyers to legally resume serving clients from Japan through a licensed branch. Now a trading center, among other things, is in search of staff:
“The company is actively seeking workers for a new unit and considering different variant of SIP to accelerate the opening of offices in the third quarter of 2018”.
Since the entry into force of the Act on payment services in April 2017, all cryptocurrency exchanges are planning to enter the Japanese market, are required to previously obtain a license from the financial services Agency (FSA). Writes News.bitcoin.com 16 platforms have already received authorisation from the Department, 8 are working in “standby mode” of processing of their applications and as 8 withdrawn applications for licensure.
In addition, the FSA sent out warning letters to some exchanges, operating without registration with the Agency. Among them was Binance, received notice in March. This provoked the emergence of rumors about the termination of the stock exchanges in Japan, but Binance Chanpen CEO Zhao (Changpeng Zhao) has denied this information.
