Kraken (kraken.com) announced on the 28th of December that it's shutting down its Japan services. All accounts will be closed and any remaining funds will need to be retrieved from the Govt.
I have Ethereum staked, their support has been saying "wait for an announcement for what to do" since 28th of Dec and they close on the 31st of Jan 2023 so there's not much time left.
How can I keep control of that Ethereum?
There is no option in their interface to Unstake and from reading here Ethereum needs to be Unstaked before it can be moved.
Full email:
Hello [first name],
We would like to inform you that after due consideration, Kraken has decided to cease its operations in Japan and deregister from the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) as of January 31, 2023. The decision is part of Kraken’s efforts to prioritize resources and investments in those areas that align with our strategy and will best position Kraken for long term success.
Current market conditions in Japan in combination with a weak crypto market globally mean the resources needed to further grow our business in Japan aren't justified at this time. As a result, Kraken will no longer service clients in Japan through Payward Asia.
We value the trust our clients put in us and we will do what we can to minimize the impact of our decision for you. That’s why we are committed to ensure a seamless transition and we hope the information in this email will help you decide what is the best option for you. Kraken is fully funded to ensure all affected clients can withdraw their assets in a timely manner.
What this means for you
In accordance with guidance from the JFSA, all affected Kraken clients have until January 31, 2023 to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings from Kraken’s platform. You may choose to either withdraw your crypto holdings to an external wallet or liquidate your portfolio and withdraw your JPY to a domestic bank account.
On January 9, deposit functionality will be removed from your account. Trading functionality will remain so that you can convert your balance to the asset of your choice. In addition,withdrawal limits have been removed for the month of January to ensure you can remove your assets from Kraken. Funds currently staked with Kraken can be unstaked and transferred or converted as desired. Kraken will soon be distributing additional info regarding the ETH unstaking process shortly. Any remaining non-JPY fiat (e.g. USD, EUR) and crypto holdings held on Kraken after February 1 00:00 JST will be automatically converted to JPY and Kraken’s Instant Buy fee will be applied.
After the deregistration has been completed on January 31, Kraken will send any remaining JPY to a Guaranty Account at the Legal Affairs Bureau in accordance with legal requirements. If you do not take any action before January 31, you will have to coordinate with the Legal Affairs Bureau on how to retrieve your JPY balance. Once funds have been transferred to the Legal Affairs Bureau, Kraken will no longer be able to >support client withdrawals.
