Bitcoin keeps going down, after Japan watchdog orders exchanges to beef up practices against money laundering. The digital currency hit a low of $5,858.21, breaking below $6,000 for the first time in 6 months.
BitFlyer, the largest crypto exchange in Japan, suspended the creation of new accounts while it makes improvements to its business. The federal agency gave the same order to five other exchanges after finding weaknesses in their money laundering controls.
Bitcoin prices fell more than 5% today after Japan’s financial regulator ordered several cryptocurrency exchanges to improve their practices against money laundering.
“Our management and all employees are united in our understanding of how serious these issues are, as well as how serious we are in responding to them going forward,” bitFlyer said on their website.
“In order to maximize our efforts towards building a suitable service and improving on the issues identified, we have temporarily suspended account creation for new customers of our own volition.”
“In the long-term, it builds a better ecosystem and makes sure this is a legitimate asset class,” said Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of BKCM. “This is part of making sure exchanges are up to snuff.”
Japanese regulators have been in the vanguard of regulation. It was the first country to adopt a national system to regulate cryptocurrency trading after its exchanges were subject to some well-known breaches including Mt.Gox.
