Digital asset firm Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) reveals that the harsh market conditions have led to the company makin the difficult decision “to halt operations in Japan and to conduct a complete review of ther business in the country.”
However, Coinbase is committed “to making this transition as smooth as possible for our valued customers.”
Coinbase says it wants to assure you that they have segregated the Japanese Yen and crypto assets of their customers in custody in compliance with the regulations. And they are committed to ensuring that all theircustomers can “withdraw their assets at their earliest convenience. Fiat deposit functionality will be removed on January 20th, 2023 JST.”
All Coinbase Japan customers will “have until February 16th, 2023 JST to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings from Coinbase.”
Customers can “choose to withdraw their crypto holdings to any other Virtual Assets Service Provider, Coinbase Wallet or any other self hosted wallet of their choice.” Alternatively, customers can “choose to liquidate their portfolio and withdraw their JPY to a domestic bank account.”
Any remaining crypto holdings held on Coinbase “on or after February 17th will be converted to JPY.”
In the month following February 17th, Coinbase will “send any remaining JPY to a Guaranty Account at the Legal Affairs Bureau in accordance with legal requirements.” If customers do not take any action before February 16th, they will “have to coordinate with the Legal Affairs Bureau to retrieve their JPY balance.”
As covered, Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US and the only one that is publicly traded, will slash its employee headcount by approximately 950 individuals as part of a move to adjust to the challenging economic environment. Coinbase said it will also cut operating expenses by 25% quarter over quarter as digital asset markets have tanked.
In an 8-K filed recently, Coinbase said that adjusted EBITDA for the full year ending on December 31, 2022, will deliver a $500 mill loss – describing it as a “guardrail.”