04 Dec 2022
Withdrawals of client funds on FTX Japan will be unfrozen soon
The Japanese branch of FTX announced on Thursday that the new FTX trading management team had approved the plan to resume withdrawal services.
Users in Japan who used the defunct crypto exchange The FTX Japanese branch has stated that it is working to enable customer withdrawals. In its entirety, FTX halted withdrawal services on November 8th, the last outgoing transaction from FTX on Ethereum was recorded at around 6:18 a.m. EST. Etherscan showed no outgoing transaction from FTX’s address since then.
According to Thursday's update, the new FTX trading management team has given the green light to restart FTX Japan's withdrawal services.
"This week, we were able to confirm with the law firm representing the FTX group in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that Japanese customer cash and cryptocurrency should not be part of FTX Japan’s estate given how these assets are held and property interests under Japanese law," FTX Japan said in the recent statement.
In addition, the Japanese subsidiary confirmed that its management is in constant contact with the Japan Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Kanto Financial Bureau regarding the current situation with the withdrawal services and the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
The company has already presented the authorities with a draft of the plan, and they will continue to provide feedback at regular intervals after they have met significant milestones.
Steps Taken by Japanese Officials
Before the latest statement, on November 21, an unnamed FTX Japan executive spoke to a local broadcaster and said the company is working on ways to resume withdrawals by the end of the year.
In related news, on November 10, the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) took administrative action against FTX Japan after its parent company abruptly halted withdrawals providing no explanation.
The Japanese financial regulator also issued the exchange several orders, including one to temporarily halt operations, another to hold assets within the country, and a third to implement better business procedures.
Since FTX was having credit issues, the FSA told the company to stop accepting OTC derivatives and customer deposits.
When FSA ordered the company to halt operations on November 10, it had 19.6 billion yen (around $138 million) in cash and deposits.
Disclaimer: Nothing on this site should be construed as a financial investment recommendation. It’s important to understand that investing is a high-risk activity. Investments expose money to potential loss.
