© Reuters
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — Coinbase (NASDAQ:) admits defeat in Japan.
The digital currency exchange firm said on Wednesday it was pulling out of Japan, the latest step in a deep pullback following the crash in crypto stocks last year.
The company, which announced plans to cut another 20% of its staff earlier this month, said it would carry out a “comprehensive review of our operations in the country.”
In announcing the job cuts last week, Chief Executive Brian Armstrong said the company would halt several projects where it sees “a lower likelihood of success.”
Crypto adoption in Japan has been sluggish, relative to the size of its overall economy, not least due to early action by financial regulators to limit what exchanges can do. Coinbase rival Kraken had said at the end of December that it too would cease operations in the country this month.
Customers will have until February 16 to withdraw their cryptocurrency and currency holdings from the exchange. Assets remaining there after this date will be converted into Japanese yen and the money will be sent to a security account in the Office of Legal Affairs, in accordance with local law.
This news comes as the and other digital currencies experience something of a mini-revenge, in hopes that the worst is over. Recent signs that the site is slowing the pace of its interest rate hikes and hopes that it can backtrack again this year have supported cryptocurrencies as well as other risky assets. Coinbase stock rose more than 8% on Tuesday, as the price rose above $22,000 for the first time in two months.
However, there are still huge uncertainties hanging over the industry, including the Securities and Exchanges Commission’s charges against Gemini and Genesis, and the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into the largest cryptocurrency exchange. of the world, Binance.