Bitget has begun withdrawing services for residents of Japan, stopping new account registrations immediately and setting a timeline that will lead to mandatory account restrictions later this year.
Summary
- Bitget has stopped new registrations from Japan and will begin restricting resident accounts from Nov. 1.
- Users who believe they were wrongly classified as Japan residents must complete address verification before the deadline.
- Japan’s regulators had repeatedly warned Bitget over providing services without local registration before the exchange announced its exit.
- The move follows Bitget’s recent practice of limiting access in markets where it does not hold the required local authorization.
Bitget announced on Monday that it has stopped accepting new registrations from residents of Japan and will begin applying account restrictions from Nov. 1 as it exits the market. The exchange also said any positions that remain open on Dec. 31 will be closed automatically as part of the withdrawal process.
Under the plan, users who believe they have been mistakenly identified as residents of Japan must complete Level 2 identity verification, including address verification, before Nov. 1. Bitget said accounts that fail to complete the process by the deadline will continue to be classified as belonging to residents of Japan and will become subject to the restrictions.
Users affected by the changes will receive further instructions by email explaining the required procedures and available options for managing or withdrawing their assets, according to the announcement.
Japan action follows repeated regulatory warnings
The latest decision comes after several warnings issued by Japanese regulators over the past few years.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency first warned Bitget in March 2023 for allegedly offering cryptocurrency services to Japanese residents without registration. The regulator repeated that warning in November 2024, again stating that the exchange had continued operating without obtaining the required authorization.
Regulatory scrutiny continued in June 2025 when the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, a regional bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Finance, issued a separate warning to BTG Technology Holdings Limited. The bureau said the company, which it identified as operating under the Bitget name, had solicited online over-the-counter derivatives transactions without registration.
Rather than announcing plans to seek local authorization in Japan, Bitget has now outlined a timetable for ending services to residents, with new registrations already closed and existing accounts moving toward phased restrictions.
Bitget continues separating markets under local rules
The Japan withdrawal follows a pattern that Bitget has adopted across several jurisdictions, where product availability depends on local regulatory status instead of a single global operating model.
In July, the exchange formally stated that it is not licensed, approved, registered or supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Bitget also confirmed Singapore remains a prohibited jurisdiction under its terms of use, saying it neither offers nor targets its services to residents there while restricting platform access from the country.
At the same time, Bitget has continued seeking registrations and approvals in markets where it intends to operate. Last month, the company completed registration on New Zealand’s Financial Service Providers Register across several financial service categories and joined the country’s Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman dispute resolution scheme.
However, New Zealand’s Companies Office states that registration on the FSPR does not by itself represent government approval or active regulatory supervision. Certain financial activities may still require separate authorization from the Financial Markets Authority or the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Commenting on the company’s regulatory strategy in previous statements, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the exchange would continue pursuing local regulatory requirements as it expands internationally.
Expansion plans continue outside restricted jurisdictions
While reducing access in markets where it lacks local authorization, Bitget has continued preparing for expansion elsewhere.
As previously reported by crypto.news, the company plans to establish a separate U.S. entity before launching services in the country. According to her comments, Bitget intends to secure money-transmitter, broker-dealer and derivatives approvals before entering the U.S. market, regardless of whether Congress ultimately passes the CLARITY Act.
The exchange has also been expanding its tokenized investment products. Chen previously said tokenized traditional assets accounted for between 20% and 30% of Bitget’s spot trading volume during the previous quarter, while more than half of its users held both cryptocurrencies and stocks.
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