Japan’s watchdog overseeing many activities for cryptocurrency exchanges, has issued warning letters to companies including KuCoin for conducting certain operations without registering, according to a Thursday update from the Financial Services Agency (FSA).
According to the agency’s latest list of entities “conducting financial instruments business without registration,” the FSA said platforms KuCoin, NeonFX, theoption, and GTCFX received a March notice for “soliciting over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading via the internet.” Of the four platforms, the FSA listed KuCoin, which is headquartered in the Seychelles, as offering services to Japanese residents, while the others have an international user base.
Source: Japan’s Financial Services Agency
The FSA issued a similar warning to KuCoin and other exchanges, including Bybit, in November 2024 for offering products and services to Japanese residents without proper registration. In February 2025, the financial watchdog sent requests to Apple and Google for the companies to suspend downloads of KuCoin’s app.
Japan has a high concentration of crypto users. The FSA reported in February 2025 that there were more than 12 million accounts among a population of about 123 million. The country ranked 19th in Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
Cointelegraph reached out to KuCoin for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
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The FSA’s notice comes as the financial watchdog prepares to shift Japan’s legal framework from the country’s Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The change would significantly alter reporting requirements for initial exchange offerings and token issuers, and provide regulators with greater enforcement authority over unregistered platforms.
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