Share this article
Japan's Finance Watchdog Suspends Two Crypto Exchanges
Japan's Financial Services Agency is halting the operation of two domestic crypto exchanges while requiring six exchanges to report improvement plans.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:39 a.m. Published Mar 8, 2018, 3:45 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Finance regulators in Japan have ordered month-long suspensions for two domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) said on Thursday that it has issued business suspension orders to two exchanges – FSHO and Bit Station – effective for one month starting from today.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The FSA mandated that seven trading platforms in total must improve their system security measures and submit a written improvement plan by March 22. Those five exchanges are Tech Bureau, GMO Coin, Mister Exchange, Bicrements as well as Coincheck, the exchange at the center of a recent $500 million heist that sparked the ongoing probe by the agency.
As reported by CoinDesk, the FSA had already stepped in soon after Coincheck reported that $500 million worth of the NEM token had been stolen in January. According to statements at the time, the FSA discovered Coincheck's internal systems were lacking, including inadequate anti-money laundering measures.
Following its on-site inspection on Coincheck, the financial regulator also expanded its probe to other domestic crypto trading platforms that are yet to be approved by the FSA for inadequate security measures which included the two that are suspended today.
Elsewhere in the announcement, the FSA also established a cryptocurrency exchange industry study group which aims to examine institutional issues regarding cryptocurrency.
According to the agency, members of the study group will come from academic institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges as well as government agencies as observers. The FSA itself will serve as the secretariat, according to statements.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new information
Japanese yen and bitcoin image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Coreweave stock gains 9% on fresh $2 billion Nvidia investment
Already an investor in CoreWeave, Nvidia last September had agreed to purchase $6.3 billion of computing services from the AI infrastructure provider.
What to know:
- CoreWeave shares jumped about 9% in pre-market trading after Nvidia invested another $2 billion in the AI-focused cloud company.
- The new funding is intended to help CoreWeave expand to more than 5 gigawatts of AI-dedicated data centers by the end of the decade.
- The deal deepens a yearslong collaboration in which Nvidia and CoreWeave will align on hardware, software and data center strategy, and test CoreWeave’s Mission Control resource-scheduling platform for potential integration into Nvidia’s ecosystem.
Top Stories
