Bitget will exit the Japanese market and close all local users' positions by the end of the year

August 3rd, the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget announced the suspension of trading services to residents in Japan, and plans to close all remaining positions by December 31, 2026.

Bitget has stopped accepting new registrations from Japanese users as of Sunday. Existing users who believe the platform has mistakenly identified them as Japanese residents need to complete secondary identity verification and submit proof of address by November 1.

Bitget stated that accounts that have not completed the verification process will enter a "liquidation-only mode" starting from November 1. Users will not be able to open new positions or use spot trading, contract trading, copy trading, trading bots, and yield-generating products. However, within certain limits, they can still deposit and withdraw funds.

The platform will forcibly close all remaining positions on December 31 and suspend bank card services. Users can still withdraw their assets thereafter.

Bitget stated that this action is to comply with local Japanese regulatory requirements. Japan recently passed legislation reclassifying cryptocurrency as financial instruments. Unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges in the future may face fines of up to approximately $62,800 and up to 10 years of imprisonment.

Bitget is currently the fifth-ranked cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume according to CoinGecko, with a trading volume of approximately $715 million in the past 24 hours. Previously, Bitget, Bybit, BitForex, and MEXC have all received regulatory warnings for failing to complete registration with the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA).