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Binance Holdings Limited — Japan FSA warning target・unregistered overseas operator (historical record)

Confidence: Likely Updated 2026-05-19 Review by 2027-05-19 Sources 5 Machine-translated Original (JA)
#fintech#jp-foreign-exchange#fsa-warned#unlicensed#binance#resolved-via-local-entity
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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it with FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for adjacent context and Japan Financial Regulation — Legal Framework for Tokens, Crypto Assets, and Payments for the broader system boundary.

Historical record entry · FSA unregistered status: end of 2017年–2022年10月 · warning letters: 2 in total (2018-03 / 2021-06) · 2022年10月 unregistered status resolved by the FSA registration of Binance Japan Co., Ltd.

Active Japanese-entity entry → jp-exchange-binance-japan

1. Corporate entity & shareholders (overview of the global parent)

Relationship between Binance Holdings Limited and Binance Japan Co., Ltd.:

ItemBinance Holdings Limited (this entry)Binance Japan Co., Ltd.
CharacterParent of the global Binance groupOperating entity for the Japanese domestic business
LocationHong Kong (as of 2018年) → unknown (2021年) → France and other countries〒102-0084 9-3 Nibancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
FSA responseWarning target as an unregistered operator (2018, 2021)FSA registration number Director-General of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau 第00031号 (2022年10月–)
Regulatory statusBeing unregistered in Japan became an issue (historical)Duly registered operator (active)
  • Trade name: Binance Holdings Limited
  • Founder: Changpeng Zhao (Zhao Changpeng, commonly known as CZ)
  • Established: 2017年 (CZ, a Chinese-Canadian, began the venture in Shenzhen and later incorporated it as a Hong Kong entity)
  • Service launch: 2017年7月 (the global exchange Binance.com)
  • Major locations (chronological): Shanghai/Shenzhen (2017) → Hong Kong (2018) → Malta (2018–) → Cayman Islands, etc. (the 2020年s)
  • Global trading volume: The world’s largest crypto-asset exchange (spot and derivatives combined, 2021–2024年)

2. Course of licensing & unregistered status in Japan

Binance Holdings Limited (and global Binance) provided services to Japanese residents from the end of 2017年, but continued operating without obtaining crypto-asset exchange registration under the Payment Services Act.

  • Unregistered period: end of 2017年–2022年10月13日 (the day before Binance Japan’s registration)
  • Warning response status:
    • Even after the 1st warning (2018-03), it effectively continued to allow Japanese residents to use the service
    • In the 2nd warning (2021-06), it rebutted that it was “not actively soliciting”
    • 2022年10月 formally ended unregistered Japan-facing operations on the occasion of the FSA registration of Binance Japan Co., Ltd.

3. Business expansion in Japan (history)

Global Binance’s Japanese-language service was offered to Japanese residents from the latter half of 2017年. In addition to spot trading of BTC・ETH and others, it also offered derivatives (futures・options), but these were outside the framework of Japanese regulation.

  • Handled currencies: Hundreds of symbols globally (no symbol restrictions tailored for Japan)
  • Characteristics: The fact that Japanese residents could effectively use all services, including derivatives and margin trading, is a major difference from registered Japanese operators

4. Scope of business (for Japanese residents・during the unregistered period)

Because it was not a registered operator under Japanese supervision, Japan’s investor-protection regulations (segregated management・compensation system・symbol screening, etc.) did not apply.

  • Spot trading (Spot)
  • Derivatives・futures
  • Margin trading (leverage)
  • NFT marketplace
  • Staking・Earn services, etc.

5. Market share & presence (during the unregistered period)

While no official statistics exist, the fact that the FSA issued 2 warnings in total indicates the magnitude of global Binance’s presence in the Japanese market.

  • At the time the warnings were issued, global Binance was the exchange with the world’s largest trading volume
  • The number of Japanese-resident users and their trading volume are not disclosed

6. History & major incidents

Global growth period (2017–2018年)

  • 2017年7月: Binance.com service launched (founder CZ established it in Shenzhen)
  • Latter half of 2017年–2018年: Japanese-language service offering began, and use by Japanese residents spread
  • 2018年1月: With the Coincheck hack as a catalyst, momentum for tighter Japanese regulation rose
  • 2018年3月22日: The FSA issued its first warning letter to Binance Holdings Limited (admonished as an operator conducting virtual-currency exchange business without registration). Hong Kong was identified as its location at the time
  • 2018年3月: Binance announced a policy of relocating to Malta (moving to Malta, which was advancing regulatory development as a “blockchain island”). It effectively abandoned building a base in Japan

Regulatory-avoidance period (2018–2021年)

  • 2018–2020年: Global Binance grew into the world’s largest exchange. Use by Japanese residents is believed to have continued, but official Japan-facing marketing was scaled back
  • 2019年: BNB (Binance Coin) migrated to its own chain (Binance Chain)
  • 2020年: Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain) launched. Entered the DeFi ecosystem
  • 2021年6月: The FSA issued its 2nd warning letter to Binance Holdings Limited. Continued provision of services to Japanese residents was confirmed, and it was warned as an unregistered operator. At the time, Binance’s corporate location was disclosed as “unknown”. Binance rebutted that it was not actively soliciting

Regular entry through Japanese incorporation (2022年)

  • 2022年7月: The Binance group recruited Takeshi Chino, former representative of Kraken Japan, as its Japan representative. Full-fledged launch of legitimate Japanese entry
  • 2022年10月14日: Binance Japan Co., Ltd. registered with the FSA’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau as a crypto-asset exchange operator (第00031号). This resolved the unregistered status of the Binance group’s Japan-facing operations
  • 2022年11月30日: The Binance group acquired the existing registered operator Sakura Exchange BitCoin Co., Ltd. (SEBC) (developing a substantive operating base as a Japanese entity)
  • 2022年12月1日: Global Binance.com halted new user registrations from within Japan

Settlement with U.S. authorities (2023年)

  • 2023年11月21日: A plea agreement was reached with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)・FinCEN・CFTC and others. Binance Holdings Limited was found criminally liable for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)・anti-money-laundering law (AML)・U.S. sanctions regulations (OFAC) and others. Sanction terms:
    • Corporate fine: approximately 43億 dollars (approximately 6,400億円) — the largest criminal settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice at the time
    • CZ personal fine: 5,000万 dollars
    • CZ agreed to step down as CEO (submitted his resignation the same day)
    • Installation of a compliance Monitor for 5 years
  • 2023年11月21日: Richard Teng became the new CEO
  • 2024年4月30日: A federal court handed CZ a custodial sentence of 4 months (sentencing hearing). He was incarcerated and released in the fall of 2024年

Sorting out the relationship with the Japanese entity (reference)

The above sanctions and settlement by U.S. authorities targeted the global Binance Holdings Limited, and no direct administrative disposition against the Kanto-Local-Finance-Bureau-registered Binance Japan Co., Ltd. has been disclosed by Japanese authorities (as of 2026年5月).

7. Historical significance & positioning

The Binance Holdings Limited case is noteworthy in the history of Japanese crypto-asset regulation in the following respects:

  1. The only major case in which a foreign-capital major resolved its own FSA-unregistered status through Japanese incorporation. While almost all global majors such as Coinbase・Kraken・Bybit either withdrew from or never entered the Japanese market, Binance established a local entity (Binance Japan) and obtained FSA registration, achieving regular entry (Kraken established and registered Kraken Japan in 2018年, after which, in 2023年, Binance Japan indirectly inherited it in the form of acquiring its predecessor SEBC)

  2. A case of the effectiveness of FSA warnings: Neither the 2018年 nor the 2021年 warning led to an immediate service halt, but the accumulation of warnings is believed to have been one factor in the eventual motivation toward incorporation and regular registration

  3. The relationship between global regulatory pressure and Japanese entry: Since the 43億-dollar settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023年, the Binance group has shifted toward substantially strengthening its compliance framework, and the Japanese entity is positioned within that context

  • Changpeng Zhao (Zhao Changpeng / CZ) — Founder of global Binance. Born in China in 1977年 and raised in Canada. After a career at Bloomberg / OKCoin and others, he founded Binance in 2017年. He stepped down as CEO and agreed to a settlement with the DOJ in 2023年11月. A custodial sentence of 4 months was finalized in 2024年4月
  • Richard Teng — The successor CEO after CZ stepped down (2023年11月–). A compliance expert formerly with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
  • Takeshi Chino — Representative Director of Binance Japan Co., Ltd. Assumed office from 2022年7月. Led the establishment of the Japanese entity as a bridge between global Binance and Japanese regulators (→ see jp-exchange-binance-japan)

Sources