Japan’s bitFlyer adds 48-hour crypto transfer cooldown for new accounts

Japanese crypto exchange bitFlyer is putting a speed bump between new customers and the exit door. Starting October 15, 2026, recently verified users who deposit yen will face a 48-hour restriction on sending purchased crypto off the platform.

bitFlyer announced the measure on October 2, 2026, through an official press release on PR Times. The stated goal is to curb fraud tied to freshly verified accounts, a category that tends to attract account takeovers and other bad behavior.

How the cooldown works

The rule targets a specific group. It covers individual customers whose identity verification, or KYC, was completed less than 90 days earlier.

For those newer users, every yen deposit triggers its own 48-hour window. During that period, external transfers of crypto bought with the deposit are restricted.

There is also a cap. Outgoing crypto transfers can only reach the total deposit amount minus ¥100,000.

Smaller deposits get a pass. Deposits of ¥100,000 or less carry no cap on outgoing transfers.

The restriction applies deposit by deposit, rather than as a blanket freeze on the whole account. Each yen transfer starts its own clock.

Crucially, the cooldown only touches one thing: moving crypto off the exchange. Trading, yen movements, and receiving or holding crypto all continue to work as usual.

The policy covers deposits made on or after the October 15, 2026 effective date. Deposits made before then fall outside the new framework.

A second layer on existing holds

This is not bitFlyer’s first withdrawal brake. The exchange already applies a 7-day transfer hold on certain deposit methods, including convenience store payments and Pay-easy.

The new cooldown adds to that system rather than replacing it.

Crypto transfers are hard to reverse once they leave the platform. A 48-hour pause gives the exchange, and potentially the victim, a window to spot something off before the money vanishes on-chain.

bitFlyer has not suffered a hack since it was founded in 2014. It also operates under the oversight of Japan’s Financial Services Agency.

What this means

For most bitFlyer customers, very little changes. Long-standing users fall outside the 90-day window, and small depositors avoid the cap entirely.

The people who will feel it are new users making larger yen deposits and hoping to move coins off the exchange quickly. For them, the experience gets slower, at least for two days per deposit.

For now, the key date is October 15, 2026. After that, new bitFlyer users should plan on a two-day wait before their freshly bought crypto can travel very far.