FTX collapse: Japanese arm to resume customer withdrawals by the end of 2022, say reports
15:42, 21 November 2022
The Japanese arm of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX aims to resume withdrawals by the end of 2022, an unnamed executive has told Japanese broadcaster NHK.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on 11 November 2022, with 130 other FTX affiliates following suite.
Due to FTX’S bankruptcy filing, FTX Japan cannot resume withdrawals immediately as it uses the same system as FTX. The Japanese arm is looking to develop its own system so that customers can withdraw their assets.
FTT to USD
Japan’s FSA acted before FTX
Japan’s financial regulator the Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered FTX Japan to suspend operations a day prior to FTX’s bankruptcy filing.
The FSA said FTX Japan must halt its crypto asset exchange business and stop accepting new customers until 9 December, effective immediately. The FSA did not say when FTX Japan could restart customer withdrawals.
In response to the FSA’s order FTX Japan said it would be going into “close-only mode”.
The suspension order from the regulator was accompanied by a business improvement order, which requires FTX Japan to identify users, protect users assets and “appropriately disseminate information to users regarding the protection of their assets”.
However, FTX Japan has made it clear that it “is a separate entity that strictly follows the Japanese regulation on asset segregation”.
FTX Japan holding almost JPY20bn
As of 10 November, FTX Japan claimed to hold JPY19.6bn ($138m) in cash and deposits but has not confirmed the outflow of customers’ asset overseas.
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