Japan's Crypto Giant BitFlyer Clamps Down On Money-Laundering

BitFlyer, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Japan, announced on Tuesday that it is introducing stringent measures against money laundering in compliance with the "Travel Rule" initiated by the global financial watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The rules mandate sharing information on transfers.

The newly implemented measures, effective Tuesday afternoon local time, encompass transfer restrictions from bitFlyer to platforms that are non-compliant with the Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology (TRUST).

TRUST is a system originally initiated by the U.S-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, to ensure firms' adherence to FATF's stipulations.

BitFlyer has rolled out notification requirements for sending and receiving cryptocurrency to TRUST-compliant platforms.

This applies to a list of 21 countries, including Japan, Israel, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the Bahamas and Switzerland. BitFlyer has limited transfers to compliant platforms in these nations to TRUST-compatible cryptocurrency assets, which include Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD and a selection of ERC-20 tokens.

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Transfers to and from countries not on this list, as well as transfers to personal wallets, can be executed in any cryptocurrency asset available on the bitFlyer platform.

In keeping with these stringent measures, domestic cryptocurrency transfers to and from bitFlyer can only be carried out with Coincheck — the only other TRUST-compatible platform in Japan — and only through Bitcoin.

Recently, Japan has pledged to enforce FATF's travel rule, which insists on the sharing of cryptocurrency transaction information between platforms.

This initiative was taken after the watchdog urged advanced economies within the G-7 to spearhead the fight against money laundering via digital assets.

Recently, a New York financial regulator fined bitFlyer's U.S. unit for failing to meet cybersecurity requirements.

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