Coinbase Shutting Down Most Crypto Services in Japan After Series of Job Cuts Globally

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is closing down most of its operations in Japan after announcing another round of job cuts globally. “Despite everything we’ve been through as a company and an industry, I’m still optimistic about our future and the future of crypto,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong insisted.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is closing the bulk of its operations in Japan, Nana Murugesan, vice president for business development and international, revealed in an interview with Bloomberg Wednesday. He said:

We’ve decided to wind down the majority of our operations in Japan, which led to eliminating most of the roles in our Japan entity.

Coinbase teamed up with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. to launch a crypto exchange in Japan in 2021.

Murugesan explained that Coinbase is finalizing its discussions with Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA). He noted that a small number of employees in Japan will remain to ensure the safety and security of customer assets.

Coinbase has been cutting its workforce globally. CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company’s latest round of job cuts Tuesday. Noting that the crypto exchange is “letting go of about 950 people,” the executive explained that the move is necessary to weather the industry downturn. He added:

We will be shutting down several projects where we have a lower probability of success.

In June last year, Coinbase said it made a decision to reduce the size of its team by about 18%, or about 1,200 employees, to ensure the company stays “healthy during this economic downturn.” The crypto exchange eliminated 60 more positions in November.

Nonetheless, Armstrong said Tuesday:

Despite everything we’ve been through as a company and an industry, I’m still optimistic about our future and the future of crypto. Progress doesn’t always happen in a straight line, and sometimes it can feel like we’re taking two steps forward and one step back.

Similar to Coinbase, Kraken said in December last year that it is shutting down services in Japan. Binance, on the other hand, is expanding its operations in the country by acquiring a regulated Japanese crypto exchange.

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