Payward Asia (Kraken Japan) — former Japanese crypto-asset exchange operator

Wiki route

This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it against Jp Exchange Coinbase Japan for the closest parallel pattern (外資系 retail exit) and FSA crypto-asset exchange registration system — number system / Local Finance Bureau jurisdiction / registration requirements for the broader system / regulatory boundary.

Kraken-branded services for Japanese residents operated during two completed periods, 2014–2018 and 2020–2023. Payward Asia Inc. operated the second period.

foreign-exchange-exit / 2 -time Japan market withdrawal / FSA registration history → cancelled

1. Legal entity · shareholders

• Trade name (final): Payward Asia Inc. (Japan branch-based) / former Kraken Japan division
• Parent company: Payward, Inc. (USA, San Francisco; brand name Kraken)
  • Founded 2011年; Jesse Powell founding CEO
• Business structure in Japan: initially direct service from Payward US headquarters (2014–2018), then re-entry via locally registered entity under Payward Asia (2020–2023)

2. Licence · registration history

• 1 st phase (2014–2018): Service suspended around the time of the revised Payment Services Act enforcement (2017-04 ). Services to Japan residents ceased without obtaining registration
• Second phase (2020–2023): Payward Asia Inc. registered as a crypto-asset exchange operator on 2020-09-08 under Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00022 and provided services as a JVCEA Type-I member.
• 2023-01-31: it discontinued the Japanese crypto-asset exchange business as stated in its official closure notice and ended the FSA registration.
• Payward Asia is absent from both the FSA registration-list snapshot dated 2026-04-01 and the current file retrieved on 2026-07-29.

3. Supported assets

• This entry does not reconstruct a complete first-period asset list from sources that do not provide one.
• At the second-period launch, the official registration and launch notices listed five assets: Bitcoin (XBT), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).
• Payward Asia handles no assets after the Japanese service ended.

4. Business scope

• The second-period launch notice described crypto-to-crypto and JPY-to-crypto spot trading.
• The closing asset-return notice covered withdrawals and trading in JPY and crypto assets and procedures for unstaking and returning DOT, ADA, and ETH. The service therefore should not be characterized as “spot only.”

5. Market share · trading volume

• The official notices reviewed for this entry provide no Japan-specific account count, trading volume, or comparable domestic market share. No unsupported ranking is assigned.
• Customer base: primarily retail residents of Japan (corporate was limited)
• Industry positioning: frequently cited alongside Coinbase Japan as an example of the foreign exchange operator Japan market withdrawal pattern

6. History · major events

The table is limited to milestones confirmed by Kraken and Payward Asia’s official registration, launch, closure, and asset-return notices and by the FSA registration list. ^[Sources: https://blog.kraken.com/kraken-japan/%E6%9A%97%E5%8F%B7%E8%B3%87%E7%94%A3%E4%BA%A4%E6%8F%9B%E6%A5%AD%E7%99%BB%E9%8C%B2%E5%AE%8C%E4%BA%86%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B; https://blog.kraken.com/kraken-japan/launch-in-japan; https://blog.kraken.com/kraken-japan/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AB%E3%81%8A%E3%81%91%E3%82%8B%E6%9A%97%E5%8F%B7%E8%B3%87%E7%94%A3%E4%BA%A4%E6%8F%9B%E6%A5%AD%E3%81%AE%E5%BB%83%E6%AD%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B; https://blog.kraken.com/kraken-japan/20230124-2; https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyoj/kasoutuka.xlsx.]

7. Strategic developments

The official closure notice said the decision reflected conditions surrounding the Japanese market and weakness in the global crypto market, which made the resources needed for further growth unjustified, together with a strategy of prioritizing investment in areas aligned with Kraken’s global strategy. This entry does not add regulatory cost, US enforcement, or workforce reductions as direct causes.

The case can be compared with Coinbase Japan as a foreign retail CEX exit, while keeping each company’s stated reasons, legal entity, and closure date separate. See JP VASP M&A and consolidation history.

8. Related individuals

• Jesse Powell: Payward / Kraken founder, former CEO (resigned 2023-09 ). Made multiple communications about the Japan market during the 2018 年 1 st-phase withdrawal
• Takeshi Chino: Representative Director of Payward Asia named in the 2020 registration and launch notices.

Related

• jp-exchange-coinbase-japan — Contemporaneous foreign operator withdrawal case (closest comparator)
• jp-exchange-binance-japan — Foreign operator remaining in the Japan market
• jp-exchange-bittrade — Also a foreign operator (former Huobi Japan)
• jp-vasp-ma-consolidation-history — JP VASP M&A and withdrawal history
• fsa-vasp-registration-system — FSA registration system
• jvcea-self-regulatory-overview — JVCEA self-regulatory framework
• global-cex-top10-comparison — Global CEX top 10 (Kraken headquarters)
• INDEX — Exchange domain index
• japan-financial-regulation — Japan financial regulation overview

Sources

• Kraken Blog: completion of crypto-asset exchange registration (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Kraken Blog: launch of services in Japan (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Kraken Blog: closure of the Japanese crypto-asset exchange business (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• Kraken Blog: closure and return of assets (retrieved 2026-07-29)
• FSA crypto-asset exchange operator registration list Excel (snapshot dated 2026-04-01; retrieved 2026-07-29)