Crypto exchange Bitget said it will stop offering trading services to residents of Japan and plans to close all remaining positions tied to affected users by Dec. 31, 2026. The platform has already stopped accepting new registrations from users in Japan as of Sunday. Existing users who believe they were incorrectly identified as Japanese residents must complete level-two identity verification and submit proof of address by Nov. 1. If they fail to do so, their accounts will be placed into close-only mode starting that day.
Under that restriction, users will not be able to open new positions or access spot trading, futures trading, copy trading, trading bots, or yield products, though deposits and withdrawals will still be available within the platform’s stated limits. Bitget said it will forcibly close any remaining positions on Dec. 31 and suspend bank card services, while asset withdrawals will remain available afterward. The exchange said the move is meant to comply with local Japanese regulatory requirements. The report also noted that Japan recently passed legislation reclassifying crypto assets as financial instruments, and unregistered platforms operating there could face fines of up to about $62,800 and prison terms of as long as 10 years.
Bitget said on Aug. 3 that it will stop providing trading services to residents of Japan and plans to close all remaining positions by Dec. 31, 2026.
The crypto exchange has already stopped accepting new registration applications from Japanese users as of Sunday. Existing users who believe the platform incorrectly identified them as Japanese residents must complete level-two identity verification and submit proof of address by Nov. 1.
Accounts without verification will be moved to close-only mode
Bitget said accounts that do not complete the required verification will be placed into close-only mode starting Nov. 1. Under that status, users will not be able to open new positions or use spot trading, futures trading, copy trading, trading bots, or yield products. Deposits and withdrawals will still be available within the stated limits.
Forced position closures scheduled for Dec. 31, 2026
The platform said it will forcibly close all remaining positions on Dec. 31 and suspend bank card services. Users will still be able to withdraw assets afterward.
Bitget said the decision is intended to comply with local regulatory requirements in Japan. Japan recently passed related legislation that reclassified crypto assets as financial instruments. In the future, crypto platforms operating without registration could face fines of up to about $62,800 and prison terms of as long as 10 years.
Bitget ranks fifth by trading volume on CoinGecko
According to CoinGecko, Bitget currently ranks fifth among crypto trading platforms by trading volume, with about $715 million in volume over the past 24 hours.
Previously, Bitget, Bybit, BitForex, and MEXC had all received regulatory warnings for failing to complete registration with Japan’s Financial Services Agency, or FSA.
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