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Exchanges

bitFlyer

bitFlyer is a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2014 and based in Tokyo, also active in the US and Europe. Since 26 June 2026 bitFlyer Europe has held a MiCA licence from Luxembourg's CSSF, valid across the EU; in the US it serves 49 of the 50 states.

Riccardo CuratoloBy Riccardo Curatolo 3 min read How we work
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What bitFlyer is

bitFlyer is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in Japan on 9 January 2014 by Yuzo Kano, a former Goldman Sachs trader and now chief executive of the parent company bitFlyer Holdings. On 1 October 2018 the operating companies (bitFlyer, Inc. in Japan, bitFlyer USA, Inc. in the United States and bitFlyer EUROPE S.A. in Luxembourg) came under the full control of the holding company. In the United States the group obtained the New York State BitLicense on 27 November 2017; in Europe it has been active since January 2018. It offers simple buying and selling for retail customers and an order-book exchange platform (Lightning), with advanced orders and API access for more active traders. In July 2024 bitFlyer Holdings completed the acquisition of 100% of FTX Japan, FTX's Japanese subsidiary, to develop custody services for institutional investors. (Verified: October 2026)

Regulation and licences

(Verified: October 2026)

  • MiCA: YES — bitFlyer EUROPE S.A. (LEI 984500D4465EFA89EF38) has been authorised as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) by the CSSF, Luxembourg's financial authority, since 26 June 2026: custody, exchange of crypto-assets for funds and for other crypto-assets, execution of orders and transfers on behalf of clients. The authorisation is valid via passporting in the other 29 countries of the European Economic Area (ESMA register).
  • United States — bitFlyer USA, Inc. is registered with FinCEN as a money services business, holds the New York State BitLicense and money transmitter licences in individual states (NMLS ID 1528491). According to the company, it operates in 49 states and the District of Columbia, excluding Nevada; the most recent state added is West Virginia, from 6 July 2026.
  • Enforcement actions — on 1 May 2023 the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) imposed a penalty of 1.2 million dollars on bitFlyer USA for shortcomings in its cybersecurity programme, including the failure to carry out periodic risk assessments. In June 2018 Japan's financial authority (FSA) had ordered six exchanges, including bitFlyer, to improve their anti-money-laundering controls, and bitFlyer had suspended the onboarding of new customers.
  • CONSOB (Italy's securities regulator) — no warning or blocking order concerns bitFlyer. On 7 and 28 June 2021, however, CONSOB relayed CSSF warnings about websites using the "BitFlyer" name without authorisation (bitflyerex.net and bit-flyer.com).

Security

According to the company, custody of funds relies on offline storage (cold storage) and multi-signature wallets. The sources consulted show no cyberattacks involving the theft of bitFlyer customers' funds (Verified: October 2026): the authorities' findings concerned internal controls, and the 2023 NYDFS penalty mentions neither data breaches nor customer losses. The risk of clone sites remains: the ESMA register gives bitflyer.com/en-eu/ as the official website for the European Union.

Headquarters and contacts

  • bitFlyer EUROPE S.A., 121, rue de Hollerich, L-1741 Luxembourg (ESMA register, October 2026): this is the company that serves clients in the European Economic Area.
  • The group is headquartered in Tokyo (bitFlyer, Inc.); in 2023 bitFlyer USA, Inc. gave a San Francisco address (NYDFS order).
  • Official website for the European Union: https://bitflyer.com/en-eu/

Alternatives

For anyone looking for other exchanges authorised under MiCA:

  • Bitstamp — also authorised by Luxembourg's CSSF (May 2025)
  • Kraken — MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland (June 2025)
  • OKX — MiCA licence from the Maltese authority MFSA (January 2025)

FAQ

Is bitFlyer legal in the EU? Yes: bitFlyer Europe has been authorised under MiCA by Luxembourg's CSSF since 26 June 2026, and, according to the ESMA register, it can operate via passporting in the other countries of the European Economic Area (Verified: October 2026).

In which US states is bitFlyer available? In 49 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia: bitFlyer USA's official licensing page lists every state except Nevada (Verified: October 2026).

Has bitFlyer ever been hacked? The sources consulted show no thefts of customer funds (Verified: October 2026). The authorities intervened over shortcomings in internal controls, in Japan in 2018 and in New York in 2023.

Are bitflyerex.net and bit-flyer.com bitFlyer websites? No: in 2021 the CSSF flagged them as unauthorised websites using bitFlyer's name. The official website for the European Union given in the ESMA register is bitflyer.com/en-eu/.

Verified sources

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