Japanese authorities have postponed FTX Japan’s suspension deadline because the firm has so far failed to return assets from custody to creditors.
Local regulators have given the Japanese affiliate of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX permission to work through withdrawal-related problems into the following year.
According to Reuters, a statement addressing FTX Japan operations has been released by the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, a regional financial regulator working under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
The date for FTX’s business suspension has been extended by the Japanese government by three months, to March 9, 2023. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan first asked the crypto exchange to halt business orders by December 9 in mid-November.
The Kanto Local Finance Bureau, according to the notification, authorized the extension of the deadline since FTX Japan has not yet released assets from custody to creditors. The regulator stressed that the trading mechanism for the crypto exchange in Japan is still inoperable.
The exchange is moving through with a “business improvement plan” that the company submitted to the Kanto Local Finance Bureau on November 16, according to FTX Japan, which subsequently confirmed the most recent news in a blog post.
The exchange stated that the platform has been inoperable and added that it is “not viable to recover customer assets fast.” The announcement follows FTX Japan’s Dec. 1 revelation of a withdrawals timeline.
The exchange has previously stated that FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings do not involve the assets of its customers. Initially, the company had anticipated starting withdrawals again by the end of 2022.As was previously mentioned, FTX acquired Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid in February, and in June 2022 it officially opened its Japanese division.