Bitget set to exit Japan, close all remaining positions by year-end
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- Bitget halted new registrations from Japan residents on Sunday and will close all remaining positions by Dec. 31, suspending card services while allowing withdrawals afterward.
- Bitget ranked fifth on CoinGecko with roughly $714.7 million in 24-hour trading volume at the time of the announcement; the Seychelles-registered exchange did not cite a specific regulatory trigger.
- Japan's parliament approved legislation in mid-July reclassifying cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, with new rules taking effect next year that carry fines of about $62,800 and up to 10 years' imprisonment for unregistered operation.
- Existing users must complete Level-2 identity verification with proof of address by Nov. 1 or have their accounts classified as Japanese and placed in close-only mode, blocking spot, futures, copy trading, bots, and earn products.
- Bitget was among four exchanges — alongside Bybit, BitForex, and MEXC — that received a 2023 warning letter for operating in Japan without proper registration under the country's fund settlement laws.
Why it matters: Bitget's Dec. 31 forced-close deadline gives Japanese users under two months to verify non-resident status or liquidate, cutting them off from a top-five global derivatives venue. With Bybit, BitForex, and MEXC all warned in 2023, Japan's mid-July financial-instruments reclassification is now producing concrete exits rather than just warnings.
