Japan FSA Urges Crypto Exchanges to Slow Withdrawals in Scam Crackdown

Japan’s Financial Services Agency has asked crypto exchanges to adopt withdrawal delays as part of a broader effort to fight scams involving exchange accounts. According to the source material, Japanese authorities also called for address registration, customer-specific limits and stronger authentication.

The move matters because withdrawal speed is a key part of how crypto exchanges operate, but it can also make stolen or fraudulently obtained funds harder to stop once they leave a platform. By encouraging delays and stricter checks, regulators are pushing exchanges to add more friction around potentially risky transfers.

Address registration would require users to predefine where funds can be sent, while customer-specific limits could tailor withdrawal controls to individual account risk. Stronger authentication would add another layer of protection before assets are moved out of an exchange account.

The request reflects a wider regulatory focus on reducing the misuse of crypto infrastructure without banning withdrawals outright. For exchanges, the measures could mean changes to compliance systems, user flows and account security processes.

For users, the practical impact may be slower withdrawals or additional verification steps, depending on how exchanges implement the guidance. The source material does not specify a timeline, affected platforms or whether the measures would become mandatory.