Coinbase announces that it is officially halting operations in Japan after massive employee layoffs.
Coinbase Japan customers can withdraw their crypto and fiat holdings until February 16.

Coinbase Global Inc, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, announced on Wednesday that it is officially halting operations in Japan due to hostile market conditions.

The $11.35 billion exchange stresses that it has segregated the Japanese Yen and crypto assets of its customers in custody in compliance with the regulations, and it is committed to ensuring that all its customers can withdraw their assets at their earliest convenience.

All Coinbase Japan customers will have until Feb. 16 to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings, the company said in a blog post while the remaining holdings will be converted to Japanese Yen and customers will have to coordinate with Legal Affairs Bureau to retrieve their assets in accordance to legal requirements. Customers have the option of transferring their assets to the Coinbase wallet or any other virtual asset provider of their choice.

Due to changes in the market environment, we have made the difficult decision to completely review our current business in Japan and terminate transactions with existing customers. However, we are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for our valued customers

Said Coinbase’s VP Nana Murugesan and Coinbase Japan CEO Nao Kitazawa.

The crypto sector’s woes have continued this year, marked by plunging deposits, layoffs, and multiple legal hurdles. Last week Coinbase lay off 20% of its headcount, this was its latest layoff since dismissing 1,100 employees in June last year with its CEO Brian Armstrong revealing the severe impact it suffered from FTX.

Crypto exchange #Coinbase has officially anounced that it is halting operations in #Japan and will conduct a complete review of its business in the country.

— Crypto News Media (@Cryptonewsmedi1) January 18, 2023

The Origin of Contagion

FTX filing for bankruptcy on November 11 gaslighted a series of other companies disclosing their “exposure” to FTX and its related companies Alameda Research, which was also founded by the failed crypto mogul Sam-Bankman Fried.

While on-chain data suggests that the events leading up to FTX’s collapse were originally triggered by the Terraform Labs collapse, of its controversial algorithmic stablecoin terraced (USDT), there have been other examples of contagion working its way into the crypto industry.

South Korean Authorities estimated that 280,000 individuals were affected by the collapse.

Crypto.com and Huobi also announced plans to lay off about 20% of their respective staff, while earlier this month Genesis, too, had cut jobs, equating to 30% of its workforce.

Companies like Amazon, Meta, and salesforce also announced layoffs, and in defense said that they hired too aggressively during a burst of activity in the early stages of the pandemic.

Stubborn inflation and other factors that slowed the economy have forced many executives to rethink their plans. Brian Armstrong also disclosed shutting down several projects with a lower probability of success. Japan’s operations were majorly affected by the layoff decision.