The cryptocurrency exchange’s services in Japan will shortly be discontinued, according to a statement released by Coinbase on Wednesday.
The platform will let customers in Japan to withdraw their crypto and fiat assets until February 16th. Users can sell their portfolio and withdraw their money to a domestic bank account, according to the release, or relocate their money to another self-hosted wallet of their choice.
After February 17, any digital asset holdings still present on Coinbase will be changed to Japanese yen.
There company has decided to suspend operations in Japan and conduct a thorough examination of our business there due to market conditions, which was a difficult decision to make, Coinbase stated. For the cherished consumers, they are nevertheless committed to making this change as smooth as they can.
The announcement comes at a challenging time for the sector, which has seen nearly two-thirds of its market valuation cut since reaching an all-time high in November 2021. Bitcoin and other significant cryptocurrencies have been going upward in recent weeks, but Messari reports that they are still down 68% from their peak.
On Wednesday, the price of Coinbase went up 3.86% to $56.23. Due to the company’s drastic layoffs and the uptick in cryptocurrency markets, the share price has increased by 53% in the last five days.
In an effort to reduce costs and help the exchange weather the difficulties rocking the cryptocurrency market, CEO Brian Armstrong announced last week that the business will lay off 20% of its workforce. In an effort to cut its operational costs by 25%, the exchange expects to eliminate 950 jobs, he wrote in a blog post.
