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MEXC Global — overseas unregistered crypto-asset exchange operator (Japan FSA warnings 2 times)

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Updated 2026-05-19
Review by 2027-05-19
Sources 5 Machine-translated Original (JA)
#fintech#jp-foreign-exchange#fsa-warned#unlicensed#mexc
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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.

No Japan FSA registration · JVCEA non-member · received warning letters 2 times as an unregistered operator (2023-03-31・2024-11-28)

1. Corporate entity / shareholders

  • Trade name: MEXC Global (English: MEXC Global Pte. Ltd.)
  • Established: 2018 年 4 月 (based on official announcement)
  • Head office location: Republic of Singapore
  • Parent company / listing status: Unlisted. No external capital raising published
  • Shareholding ratio: Not published

The company is a globally expanding centralized crypto-asset exchange providing services in 170 or more countries and regions.

2. Licensing / registration status

  • Japan FSA (crypto-asset exchange business): Unregistered
  • No registration as a crypto-asset exchange operator under Japan’s Payment Services Act
  • JVCEA membership: Non-member (neither Type 1 nor Type 2 applicable)
  • Major regulation outside Japan: Registration status with Singapore authorities is not published

On the grounds that it provides services to Japanese residents, the Financial Services Agency issued warning letters in 2023 年 and 2024 年 (see §6 ).

3. Handled currencies

MEXC is known as one of the world’s leading exchanges in terms of the large number of altcoin listings.

  • Spot trading pairs: Over 2,300 pairs (as of 2025-12 )
  • Listed issues: More than 1,500 kinds of crypto-assets
  • 2024 年 new listings: 2,376 issues per year (of which first listings 1,716 · meme coins 605)
  • Native token: MX token (MX) — used for platform fee discounts, staking, etc.
  • Characteristics: Explicitly states a policy of early-listing meme coins and emerging altcoins. Actively handles small-cap issues that major exchanges do not cover

4. Scope of business

  • Spot trading: Yes (maker fee 0% · taker 0.1%, etc.)
  • Perpetual futures (Futures): Yes (up to 500 x leverage)
  • Copy trading: Yes
  • Staking: Yes
  • NFT marketplace: Yes
  • DEX+ function (decentralized exchange linkage): Yes
  • Fiat-currency deposit: Credit card / P2P supported (details per published materials)
  • Services for corporations: Published

5. Market share / trading volume

  • Number of users: More than 3,000 万 as of the end of 2024 年 (company-published · 2025-01 annual report)
  • Futures 24 -hour trading volume: About 94 億 USD (CoinGecko data as of 2025-05 )
  • Position among competitors: Within the global top 5 位 in futures trading volume (2024 年 CoinGecko annual report)
  • Customer base: Retail-centered. Mainly individual traders oriented toward emerging altcoins and meme coins
  • Owing to the large number of listings, has high recognition as a first-listing destination for new issues

6. History / major incidents

PeriodItem
2018-04MEXC Global established (Singapore)
2021Fully rolled out spot and futures services
2022-12CEO John Chen stepped down (described in a Binance official article published 2023-12 ). Details of the successor structure not published
2023-03-31Financial Services Agency issued its 1 -th warning letter. Notified that it was conducting crypto-asset exchange business without registration, targeting Japanese residents. In that document, the representative was listed as “unknown” and the location as “Republic of Singapore”
2024-11-28Financial Services Agency issued its 2 -th warning letter. Same reason. The representative was listed as “John Chen Ju” and the location as “Republic of Singapore.” On the same day, KuCoin, bitcastle LLC, Bybit, and Bitget were also warned simultaneously
2025-02-07The Financial Services Agency requested Apple and Google to stop distributing the MEXC app to Japan in their stores (the 1 社 of simultaneous requests in 5 社). Removed from the App Store and Google Play in the middle of the same month
Throughout 2024Newly listed 2,376 issues during the year · achieved more than 3,000 万 users (company annual report)

Policy toward Japanese residents: The company’s terms of use do not explicitly prohibit use by Japanese residents, but the Japan FSA judges that it effectively provides services to the Japanese market and has continuously issued warnings.

7. Strategic developments

  • Accelerates the speed of new listings through 2024 年. Positions the advantage of “first-listing” as the axis of its marketing within the industry
  • Continuous addition of new features such as copy trading and DEX+
  • Since being removed from the Japan App Store in 2025 年 2 月, no official communication directed at Japan has been confirmed
  • In response to Bybit‘s withdrawal from Japan (the 2026 年 policy), published content in its Japanese-language blog introducing MEXC as a candidate migration destination (2026-01-22) — however, this is MEXC’s own marketing content, and there is no published development regarding obtaining Japan FSA approval. The simultaneous warning targets also apply to KuCoin and Bitget (for background, see FSA warning-letter issuance system for unregistered foreign crypto-asset exchanges (2018-2025)).
  • John Chen Ju: The representative name listed in the FSA warning letter issued on 2024-11-28. Some reports say he stepped down as CEO in 2022 年 12 月, but he is still listed as the representative in the FSA document thereafter. Confirmation of details is difficult within the scope of published information
  • Vugar Usi Zade: Took office as COO from 2025-12 (mentioned by multiple review media)
  • Founders (joint): The names Sheen Xin Hu, Aaron Wagener, and Piotr Brzezinski appear in some sources, but official confirmation is difficult

Sources

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