Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has issued warning letters to several crypto platforms, including KuCoin, for conducting financial instruments business without proper registration, the agency said in a Thursday update.
The FSA’s latest list of entities “conducting financial instruments business without registration” shows that KuCoin, NeonFX, theoption, and GTCFX received a March notice for “soliciting over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading via the internet.” Of the four, the FSA flagged KuCoin—headquartered in the Seychelles—as offering services to Japanese residents, while the others were described as having international user bases.
This follows a similar November 2024 warning from the FSA to KuCoin and other exchanges, including Bybit, over offering products and services to Japanese residents without proper registration. In February 2025 the watchdog reportedly asked Apple and Google to suspend downloads of KuCoin’s app.
Japan has a high concentration of crypto users: the FSA reported in February 2025 that there were more than 12 million crypto accounts in a population of about 123 million. Chainalysis ranked Japan 19th in its 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
Cointelegraph reached out to KuCoin for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The FSA’s notice comes as regulators prepare to move Japan’s legal framework for crypto from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. That shift would change reporting requirements for initial exchange offerings and token issuers and give authorities greater enforcement power over unregistered platforms.
Separately, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi—who has served as Japan’s prime minister since October 2025—publicly denied any links to the “Sanae token” after the project briefly reached a market value of about $28 million before falling sharply; the FSA was reportedly considering an investigation.
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