The company also boosted its US Treasury bills to a new high of more than $53 billion, or 64% of its reserves. Combined with other assets, USDT is now backed by 85% cash, cash equivalents, and short-term deposits, the report said.
Circle has made a similar move. The stablecoin operator has reportedly adjusted its reserves to reduce risk from macroeconomic uncertainty and is no longer holding US Treasury bonds maturing after early June. As the regulatory environment narrows, the exchange's strategy to expand its global reach has been to acquire locally regulated entities. Binance has made similar moves in Singapore in 2021, Malaysia in 2022, and most recently, Thailand. In Japan, it closed operations in 2018 after failing to secure an independent license from local regulators.
According to a notice on its website, the exchange will not offer derivatives services in Japan. The global version of Binance will not accept new derivative accounts from users in the country.
Additionally, residents of Japan using the global platform will not be able to add or open new options positions after June 9, the exchange said. Pending orders will be canceled and existing positions must be closed by June 23rd. Binance Leveraged Tokens will not be av ailable for trading or subscriptions. “In the future, we plan to continue enriching our service offerings in Japan, and will work closely with regulators to provide derivatives services in a fully compliant manner as much as possible,” the company wrote.
Japan was one of the first countries to introduce encryption regulations. Local laws contributed to the swift recovery of funds in February by FTX Japan, a subsidiary of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Regulations in Japan require cryptocurrency exchange es to separate customer funds from other assets .
