Kraken Relaunches Crypto Trading in Japan After Two-Year Break

Oct 22, 2020 at 08:57 UTCUpdated Oct 22, 2020 at 13:42 UTC.U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken is once more letting Japanese residents fund their accounts and trade crypto on its platform.

Announced Thursday in a company blog post, Kraken said the move comes as the start of a larger push to expand its services within the Asia-Pacific region.

The exchange first said it was reopening for Japan's market in September.

The company had shuttered its local services after the Coincheck exchange's $530 million hack in 2018 spooked local regulators into clamping down on cryptocurrency trading activity.

As part of the conditions for re-entry, Kraken completed registration as a crypto asset exchange service provider under Japan's Payment Services Act on Sept. 8."In today's challenging economic environment, more people are turning to cryptocurrencies to hedge against volatile markets," said David Ripley, Kraken's chief operating officer, in comments on the relaunch.

For users completing Kraken's onboarding process, spot trading is now open for bitcoin, ether, XRP, bitcoin cash and litecoin.

Crypto deposits in these cryptocurrencies have been restored, as have domestic Japanese yen deposits and withdrawals via SBI Sumishin Net Bank.Users can trade via crypto-to-crypto or yen-to-crypto trading pairs.