Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has officially requested Apple and Google to block applications from five unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges, reports Nikkei.
The list includes Bybit, MEXC Global, LBank Exchange, KuCoin, and Bitget.
It is reported that Apple has already complied with the request. The company has also repeatedly warned platforms against offering services to Japanese citizens. Google has not responded to the regulator’s request.
In both cases, the restriction will not be retroactive. Users who had already downloaded the apps before the block will be able to continue interacting with the “problematic” products, circumventing the ban.
The country’s authorities issued their first warning against the operations of unregistered crypto exchanges back in 2018, yet many companies continued to serve citizens of the country. The request to block apps is the first such measure by the regulator.
Back in December 2024, the Japanese government expressed skepticism towards the idea of creating a national bitcoin reserve.