FTX Japan Crypto Exchange to Resume Withdrawals Today – Here’s What’s Happening
FTX Japan, the Japanese arm of the fallen FTX crypto exchange, has resumed withdrawals today according to a new announcement.
The firm said that it would resume services for withdrawing fiat currency and cryptoassets of FTX Japan at noon on Tuesday (JST) via the Liquid Japan platform – a crypto trading platform acquired by FTX last spring and the owner of a licensed Japanese crypto exchange Quoine.
It added that withdrawals may not be an instant process, and that other services are in plans for reopening as well, stating that,
“Please note that due to the large number of requests from customers, it may take some time for the withdrawal process to be completed. We will announce the resumption of other FTX Japan services as soon as possible.”
To withdraw their funds, FTX Japan customers need to:
- confirm the balance of their assets;
- transfer the assets to their Liquid Japan account;
- those who don’t have a Liquid Japan account need to open one before they can transfer assets, and this includes completing necessary know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.
As for this third step, FTX Japan said it would contact users via email to explain how to complete this step, after which it would send another email inviting those users to link the two accounts.
It added that there are no fees for the transfer from FTX Japan to the Liquid Japan account.
USD balances in Liquid Japan accounts will have to be converted to JPY for withdrawal, per the FAQ site.
The exchange said that it sent the details of this procedure to all eligible customers, with instructions on how to complete the entire process. Steps to be completed in the process can be found at this link as well.
Company ready for auction
In August 2021, Liquid Global experienced a hack in which more than $90 million was stolen. Soon after, the team announced that FTX had lent $120 million in debt financing and that the two entities would continue working together in pursuit of further collaborative opportunities.
In 2022, Liquid and Quoine were acquired by FTX, changing the company name to ‘FTX Japan Co., Ltd.’. This was, at the time, seen as part of FTX’s efforts to expand into Japan.
Just months after, however, FTX Japan halted withdrawals after FTX and its parent company Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy on November 11 – leading to the freezing of customer funds. The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) requested that FTX Japan suspend business orders already on November 10. Following this, the Japanese government said that it would do all it could to protect customers of FTX Japan, while the exchange claimed that its clients’ funds were safe.
Days later, Liquid stopped all trading after being “instructed” to do so by the law firm handling the bankruptcy.
Then in December, Liquid released a plan to return assets to customers starting February this year, stating that FTX Japan was developing systems to enable its customers to withdraw their assets via Liquid Japan.
Mamoru Yanase, the FSA deputy director-general, confirmed in January that the exchange would repay funds to customers this month. “We have been in close communication with FTX Japan,” Yanase said, adding that clients’ assets have been properly segregated” by the Japan unit.
Meanwhile, FTX has been given permission to sell its overseas assets to raise funds as bankruptcy proceedings continue – and as of January, 41 companies had registered an interest in acquiring FTX Japan. Earlier this month, bidders were given more time to register their interest in the crypto exchange, with a US bankruptcy court pushing back the bidding date from March 15 to April 19.
An auction for the Japanese platform will be held on April 26, and the sale will possibly be completed by early May.
Per Bloomberg, on December 1, FTX Japan held around $94.5 million in crypto and $46 million in fiat.
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