The Japanese subsidiary of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX said it started allowing customers to withdraw their assets on Tuesday, a relatively quick reboot that Tokyo regulators see as the fruit of their strict crypto laws, the Wall Street Journal reported. The situation in Japan contrasts with the U.S. and other countries, where most FTX customers are a long way from getting access to their assets more than three months after the exchange’s U.S. bankruptcy filing. Japan, which was burned by the collapse of the early cryptocurrency exchange Mt.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s Canadian division will shut down its stores under court protection after the company received an unusual lifeline earlier this week to save its U.S. operations from bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The troubled home-goods retailer on Friday filed its Canadian division for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, Canada’s rough equivalent of chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The United States is violating the principles of market economy and international trade rules in considering a ban on Chinese citizens buying property in the United States, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday, Reuters reported. "Generalizing the concept of national security and politicising economic, trade and investment issues violate the rules of market economy and international trade rules," spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.

A shuttered South African airline sued Boeing Co. for fraud over its agreement to buy eight 737 MAX planes and seeks damages of at least $83 million, Reuters reported. Boeing "placed profits over safety and led with a plan of deception," Comair's suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle said. Boeing declined to comment. Comair said that Boeing committed fraud over its failure to disclose problems with a key flight control system tied to two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people and led to the MAX's 20-month grounding.

A $4 billion accounting shortfall would typically raise alarm bells for an auditor. Somehow, a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP affiliate didn’t catch it at Americanas SA, Bloomberg News reported. Investor and consumer groups are calling for closer scrutiny of the accounting firm after the unveiling of balance-sheet irregularities that led 93-year-old Brazilian retailer Americanas to seek protection from creditors last month. The gap came in part from supplier financing that wasn’t reflected the right way in the company’s financial statements, which have been audited by PwC since 2019.

Canada's Hut 8 Mining Corp. will merge with rival US Bitcoin Corp. to create a crypto mining giant in North America, consolidating after a steep fall in valuations for the crypto sector that saw high-profile collapses in recent months, Reuters reported. The companies said the combined entity will have a market capitalization of around $990 million, and be equally owned by shareholders of both the companies. The merged entity, to be called Hut 8 Corp, will be listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq after the all-stock deal.

Potential buyers are inquiring about purchasing the struggling crypto lender Hodlnaut and its claims against bankrupt digital-asset exchange FTX, Bloomberg News reported. “Various parties who are interested in acquiring” Singapore-based Hodlnaut’s crypto platform and FTX claims have contacted the interim judicial managers overseeing the company after it sought protection from creditors, according to an affidavit seen by Bloomberg News. The judicial managers are in the process of signing non-disclosure agreements with the potential investors, the document shows.

The bankrupt FTX group of cryptocurrency companies extended the deadlines to bid for its Japan and Europe businesses as administrators strive to raise funds to help pay back creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The preliminary bid deadline is now March 8 and the auction date becomes April 26, according to a court filing on Wednesday. Administrators in December put several FTX units on the auction block, including LedgerX, the Japanese and Singaporean crypto exchanges, and the European digital assets and derivatives business.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has shut its Abu Dhabi office less than a year after securing a license in the region, a spokesperson said on Thursday, as the company seeks to sharpen its focus after FTX's bankruptcy shook the digital assets sector, Reuters reported. The U.S.-based company had said last year it would reduce its workforce by 30%, or about 1,100 employees, as rising rates and worries of an economic downturn soured the sentiment on crypto.