Binance has announced that it has fully acquired the Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC): a Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider. The acquisition marks the beginning of Binance’s return to the Japanese market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity.

Takeshi Chino, general manager of Binance Japan, stressed the importance of working with regulators in Japan to take crypto adoption to the next level.

They said, ‘The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption. As one of the world’s leading economies with a highly-developed tech ecosystem, it’s already poised for strong blockchain uptake. We will actively work with regulators to develop our combined exchange in a compliant way for local users. We are eager to help Japan take a leading role in crypto.’

SEBC is a fully JFSA-registered and regulated crypto exchange that also offers customers consultation and brokerage services. SEBC currently supports eleven trading pairs: BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY, XEM/JPY, MONA/JPY, ADA/JPY, XYM/JPY, and COT/JPY.

New User Registrations on Binance Paused in Japan

In a separate announcement, the Binance team notified its community that ‘new users in Japan will not be able to register with Binance.com, with effect from 2022–11–30 08:00 (UTC).’ The team further explained that the pause in registration is due to Binance evaluating ‘its product and service offerings to proactively comply with local regulations.’

However, the changes will not affect existing Binance users from Japan. They will continue using the exchange’s products and services. The exchange will also update on when new registrations will be reopened.

Binance Continues to Align Itself with Regulators

To note is that Binance has been warming up to global regulators and complying with the various laws and practices of jurisdictions it intends to have a presence in.

So far, Binance has gathered regulatory approval in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus and is now working on reentering the Japan market after exiting in 2018 after initial regulatory pressures.