Apple has reportedly moved to block Japanese users from downloading the apps of the crypto exchanges Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, Kucoin, and Bitcastle.
The claims came in a report from the Japanese media outlet CoinPost, which linked the apparent blocks to a series of November 2024 warnings from the Financial Services Agency (FSA).
Bybit, Bitget, MEXC – New iOS Downloads Blocked?
As of February 6, the outlet wrote, Japanese users have found themselves “suddenly unable” to “search for or download” the exchanges’ apps from the Japanese App Store.
Cryptonews.com was also able to confirm that trying to access and download the Bitget and Bybit apps from the Japanese Apple App Store from Japanese IP addresses now appears impossible.
Attempting to do so returns a page with a message that reads “Connecting…” However, this page appears to hang indefinitely.
A message that reads “Connecting…” in Japanese on the Japanese Apple App Store when a user tries to download the Bitget app from the store.
CoinPost similarly reported that its attempts to download the apps returned “Cannot connect to the iTunes Store” error messages.
Alternatively, “the page remains stuck in the ‘Connecting…’ state, and users are unable to proceed,” the outlet wrote.
The outlet also wrote that the unannounced “move may be related to the warning issued by the Financial Services Agency to unregistered businesses in November” last year.
FSA Warnings
On November 28, 2024, the FSA sent and published almost identically worded warnings to Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, Kucoin, and Bitcastle.
All were titled: “Regarding unregistered cryptocurrency exchange operators.” And all complained that the five exchanges have “conducted cryptocurrency exchange business over the internet with Japanese residents as counterparties.”
Under legislation launched in 2017, only exchanges with FSA-issued permits are allowed to operate in Japan.
Written Cautions
While the FSA has found it hard to stop citizens from accessing overseas platforms, it has sent multiple warnings to big-name international players.
In most cases, it claimed that the exchanges in question were trying to court Japanese clients by providing Japanese-language user interfaces and customer support.
Downloads from the Google Play store do not appear to be affected at the time of writing.
Last year, the FSA sent an official warning to the LBank crypto exchange, complaining that the platform was offering Japanese residents “cryptocurrency transactions without registration.”
The FSA also sent similar warnings to Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, and the Bitforex exchange back in March 2023.
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