Just-In: FTX Japan Ordered by Regulator to Suspend Operations

According to a formal statement released on Thursday, the local branch of FTX has been instructed to cease operations by Japan’s Financial Services Agency.

The order stated that the regulator wants FTX Japan to immediately cease operating as a crypto asset exchange and to stop onboarding new clients until December 9, 2022.

FSA Points Out Important Details

In its ruling, the FSA refers to the fact that FTX Japan stopped processing customer withdrawals without announcing a timeframe for their resumption and without pausing new registrations on the platform. The regulator stated that given the situation, it is unsure of FTX Japan’s current state of health.

The order further stated,

“It is necessary to take all possible measures to prevent a situation in which [Japanese customers’ assets] are leaked to a [foreign] affiliated company”

By November 16, 2022, FTX Japan must also deliver a “written business improvement plan” to the authority which addresses the issues mentioned.

FTX On The Edge Of Bankruptcy

The move is made as SBF’s crypto exchange FTX is currently facing a massive liquidity crisis and is almost on a death spiral. As reported by CoinGape earlier, Binance — a competing exchange, had initially agreed to buy the debt-ridden exchange but has now withdrawn from the deal.

Reacting to the news, the FTX exchange’s native token, FTT, has fallen by over 3% in the past 1 hour and by 30% in the last 24 hours. It is currently trading at $3.1 at the time of writing.