European bitcoin exchange and cryptocurrency marketplace HitBTC has announced they are seeking to open a regulated office in Japan. The effort has been taken in response to recent regulatory changes by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) and will apply only to those living in Japan.

Previously this year, the HitBTC team started working with a Japanese law firm aimed to get HitBTC through the local subsidiary setup and licensing procedure to resume its services for Japanese residents. The company is actively hiring for the local office and exploring M&A opportunities to expedite the launch of the Japanese operations in Q3 2018.

The HitBTC team said:

“We would like to thank all our customers from Japan for your support and loyalty, – the HitBTC team representative says, – Being among the industry leaders means not only developing outstanding technology to contribute to the industry growth but also an incredible level of responsibility. This, of course, includes responsibility for users’ security and a higher level of service, but at the same time, compliance with the regulations is essential for keeping the market civilized. Bearing in mind extensive regulatory approvals we are yet confident to restart the business very soon.

New Margin Service

Over the weekend, HitBTC also announced the launch of a dedicated service for margin trading in collaboration with its partner Weltrade. With this service, users will be able to trade with a leverage of 1:3. Customers will be able to open long or short positions and withdraw money in just 30 minutes 24/7.