Binance has not received any mandates from Japan FSA and is not facing any criminal charges

Binance is world’s second biggest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of volume and today, Japan’s FSA (financial services agency) said they gave a warning to Binance to stop its operations in Japan. If it does not stops soon enough, it could face criminal charges. Binance CEO, Zhao said that they were working to get a license from Japanese FSA but it was not clear if the company actually filed an application for it.

Binance’s CEO has tweeted about it saying that they have not received any warning. Here is the actual tweet.

Nikkei showed irresponsible journalism. We are in constructive dialogs with Japan FSA, and have not received any mandates. It does not make sense for JFSA to tell a newspaper before telling us, while we have an active dialog going on with them.

Nikkei said the agency is on verge disclosing the company’s name on its website and police would not launching an investigation into Binance.

Binance is working to get a license in Japan. However, it is true the exchange does not verify Japanese users which is why the exchange is not doing enough to prevent money laundering. The exchange is home to myriad cryptocurrencies that can be traded anonymously.

Update – Binance’s CEO just tweeted about the letter from JFSA, “We received a simple letter from JFSA about an hour ago. Our lawyers called JFSA immediately, and will find a solution. Protecting user interests is our top priority”.