Exchanges barred from listing
Japan
Industry rules binding Japan's registered exchanges have barred coins whose transfers cannot be traced since 24 October 2018; individuals may still hold them.
The rule
- Exchange listing
- Barred
- Holding by individuals
- Allowed
- Mixers
- No specific rule
- Self-hosted wallets
- Owner details
- In force from
- 24 Oct 2018
- Confidence
- Confirmed
Dates: the rule has been in force since 24 Oct 2018 and the rule on self-hosted wallets since 1 Jun 2023.
No statute stops individuals holding or using privacy coins, but Article 4(3) of the Rules on Handling of Crypto Assets of the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA), the certified self-regulatory body, says members must not handle crypto-assets whose transfer records cannot be traced or are extremely difficult to trace unless those problems are resolved. The clause is in the 2018 text of the rules, which took effect on 24 October 2018, and a firm that does not join the JVCEA cannot be registered unless it adopts equivalent internal rules (Payment Services Act, Article 63-5(1)(vi)). The FSA's supervisory guidelines cite the clause when setting out how the FSA judges which crypto-assets an exchange may handle (section I-1-2-3), and link it to the duty in Article 23(1)(v) of the Cabinet Office Ordinance not to handle crypto-assets that could harm user protection or the proper conduct of the business. The market lists of bitFlyer, Coincheck, bitbank and GMO Coin fetched on 13 October 2026 include no Monero, Zcash or Dash, and no mixer-specific sanction, prosecution or ban was found. An amendment enacted on 15 July 2026, mostly due to take effect within a year of promulgation, moves crypto-asset trading into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and bars firms from handling crypto-assets that fail standards to be set by Cabinet Office Ordinance (new Article 43-7), without itself mentioning traceability.
Instrument: JVCEA Rules on Handling of Crypto Assets, Article 4(3), binding on registered exchanges through Payment Services Act Article 63-5(1)(vi) and cited in the FSA guidelines for crypto-asset exchange service providers, section I-1-2-3
Sources
- Rules and Guidelines on Handling of Crypto Assets (暗号資産の取扱いに関する規則・ガイドライン)
- Rules on Handling of Virtual Currencies (仮想通貨の取扱いに関する規則), text as amended on 23 October 2018, archived copy
- Payment Services Act (資金決済に関する法律), Article 63-5
- Administrative Guidelines, Volume 3 (Financial Companies), 16: Crypto-Asset Exchange Service Providers (事務ガイドライン 第三分冊 16 暗号資産交換業者関係)
- Bills submitted to the Diet (国会提出法案等)
- Bill partially amending the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Payment Services Act, text and reasons (金融商品取引法及び資金決済に関する法律の一部を改正する法律案)
- bitFlyer public API: market list (getmarkets)
- Coincheck public API: rates for all assets (rate/all)
- bitbank public API: spot pairs
- GMO Coin public API: symbols
Self-hosted wallets
Owner details since 1 Jun 2023
Since 1 June 2023 Japanese crypto exchanges must pass sender and recipient information to receiving exchanges in Japan and in designated jurisdictions and, for transfers to wallets outside the travel rule, including self-hosted wallets, collect and keep information on the wallet owner.
On 25 June 2025 the FSA said crypto-asset exchange service providers must collect and store owner information for transactions with wallets outside the travel rule, citing Article 24, items 8 and 9, and Article 32, paragraphs 6 and 8, of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, and that notification is limited to providers in jurisdictions with equivalent rules. In practice, SBI VC Trade's travel rule terms (1 June 2023, revised 12 March 2025) make customers declare, when they request a transfer, the destination address, whether the recipient is the customer and, if not, the recipient's name and address, whether a receiving exchange is involved and its name, and the purpose of the transfer. Neither source mentions an ownership test such as a signed message or a test transfer, and no amount threshold applies.
Privacy coins and wallets: Members of the self-regulatory JVCEA may not handle crypto-assets whose transfer records cannot be traced or are extremely difficult to trace unless those problems are resolved (Rules on Handling of Crypto Assets, Article 4(3)), which keeps privacy coins off registered exchanges.
- Summary of public comments and the FSA's views on the notice designating countries or regions under Articles 17-2 and 17-3 of the Order for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds
- Consent terms relating to the travel rule (1 June 2023, partly revised 12 March 2025)
- Rules on Handling of Crypto Assets and guidelines (Article 4(3)), guidelines as amended on 1 July 2026
Exchanges and their restrictions
The 14 exchanges on this site, with the 32 spot markets they list for the seven coins, as checked on 13 Oct 2026. The exchange data records where each listing is restricted as text, so this page quotes each passage that names Japan, and marks the cells it comes from. An exchange with no such passage has no restriction for Japan on record here, which does not mean that it is licensed there or open to its residents. A listing is not an endorsement.
Swipe the table sideways to see all seven coins.
| Exchange | ZECZcashSpot on 11, perp only on 1 | XMRMoneroSpot on 6, perp only on 3 | DCRDecredSpot on 6 | ZANOZanoSpot on 1 | ARRRPirate ChainSpot on 2 | XVGVergeSpot on 4, perp only on 3 | FIROFiroSpot on 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | Restricted +perpApr 2025Shielded in: noShielded out: no | DelistedFeb 2024Perp only | RestrictedApr 2025 | Never listed | Never listed | Listed +perpWithdrawals frozen | DelistedApr 2025 |
| Coinbase | Listed +perpNov 2018Shielded in: yesShielded out: no | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Kraken | Restricted +perpJun 2026Shielded in: unknownShielded out: no | Restricted +perpJun 2026 | RestrictedMay 2026 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| OKX | Listed +perpNov 2025Shielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | DelistedJan 2024 | DelistedJul 2024 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Bybit | DelistedFeb 2025Perp only | Never listedPerp only | DelistedNov 2024 | Never listed | Never listed | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| Bitget | Listed +perpDec 2025Shielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Never listedPerp only | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| KuCoin | Listed +perpJul 2019Shielded in: unknownShielded out: no | Listed +perpMar 2019 | ListedSep 2018 | Never listed | DelistedSep 2023 | Never listedPerp only | Never listed |
| Gate | Listed +perpShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Restricted +perp | Listed | Never listed | ListedWithdrawals frozen | Restricted | Restricted |
| HTX | Listed +perpDec 2022Shielded in: noShielded out: no | Listed +perpDec 2022 | ListedDec 2022 | Never listed | Never listed | ListedDec 2022 | DelistedSep 2025 |
| MEXC | Listed +perpShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | Listed +perp | Listed | ListedDec 2023 | ListedJan 2024 | Listed +perp | Listed |
| Gemini | RestrictedMay 2018Shielded in: yesShielded out: yes | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Bitfinex | Listed +perpOct 2016Withdrawals frozenShielded in: unknownShielded out: unknown | ListedNov 2016 | DelistedMar 2022 | Never listed | Never listed | DelistedDec 2024 | Never listed |
| Crypto.com | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed | Never listed |
| Upbit | DelistedSep 2019 | DelistedSep 2019 | DelistedDec 2020 | Never listed | Never listed | DelistedMay 2020 | DelistedMay 2020 |
Passages that name Japan
No passage of the exchange data names Japan.
Self-hosted wallets for the seven coins
The nine wallets on the Wallets page that hold at least one of the seven coins, with the coins and platforms each supports. The wallet data does not record where each wallet is offered, so this list is the same on every country page, and Japan's own rules, set out above, apply to their use. A listing is not an endorsement.