- Threads passed 500 million monthly users in June 2026. Meta has not published a user count for Japan
- Posts are capped at 500 characters, with text attachments of up to 10,000 characters for long-form. Links appear below the post
- Topic tags launched at one per post. Search also surfaces untagged posts whose text contains the term
- Rather than piping in your X posts as-is, build in this order: get found in replies → pinned post → explainer article → sign-up
- A post that pays you a referral commission is an ad. A "PR" label and no "guaranteed profit" claims are the baseline
Key points: frequently asked questions
- Q: My FX referral posts did well on X. Can I just cross-post them to Threads?
- A: We would not. On Threads, replies make up more than half of what people see, and Meta says the pattern is even stronger in Japan. One-off announcements fit poorly. Start conversations in the replies, then send people from your pinned profile post to an explainer article.
- Q: Can I paste my Kingfin sign-up link straight into a Threads post?
- A: The platform allows it. But putting your own article that explains the risks and how it works between the post and the sign-up page is safer, both for readers and from a regulatory standpoint. Which route actually drives sign-ups is something you measure with sub-IDs.
This article is for people running Kingfin affiliate marketing as a side business. It is informational and educational content that uses Threads' published specs and usage data to think through a referral funnel. Threads features and how posts are surfaced can change without notice. Affiliate results and earnings are not guaranteed. Trading with the referred service also carries the risk of losing your principal.
How big is Threads? 500 million worldwide, no number for Japan
In June 2026, Meta announced that Threads had passed 500 million monthly active users. It had announced 400 million in August 2025, so that is another 100 million in less than a year.
What Meta has not published is a monthly user count for Japan. If you see a claim that "tens of millions of people in Japan use Threads," that number does not come from Meta's own announcements. Do not design a funnel around a market size nobody has actually reported. That is the first line to draw.
What Meta has said about Japan is about how people use Threads, not how many. Marking Threads' third anniversary, Meta noted that time spent in Japan was up 130% year on year (2.3x), and that replies account for more than 50% of views globally, with the pattern even stronger in Japan.
What gets read on Threads is conversation, not one-off posts. For FX referrals, that suggests the time you spend replying to currency and side-hustle threads so people remember your name is likely to pay off more than the number of "sign up here" posts you push out.
Know the specs: 500 characters, 10,000-character attachments, links below the post
Character limits and link handling are where an X mindset trips you up. Here are the main published specs and how to use each one in a referral funnel.
| Spec | Details | Use in a referral funnel |
|---|---|---|
| Post length | Up to 500 characters (since launch in July 2023) | Enough room for a conclusion and the reasoning in one post. Less need to chain long threads |
| Text attachments | Attach long-form text of up to 10,000 characters to a post (added September 2025) | Lets readers get the long explanation, such as how fees work or where the risks are, inside the post |
| External links | A link in a post is shown below the post | A way to send readers to your explainer article or note post |
| Topic tags | "Tags," not hashtags. One per post at launch | Pick the single topic shelf each post belongs on |
The 10,000-character attachment is handy, but use it deliberately. It is not a place for a long sales pitch. Treat it as the place to spell out "why this number" and "where the risk is" without cutting corners, and it builds trust in you as the person making the referral.
You will hear both "Threads buries posts with links" and "no, it doesn't." Meta has not put numbers on it either way. On X, we measured that removing links from the post body increased views but weakened the sign-up response, and wrote it up in a separate article. Whether the same thing happens on Threads is unknown. The reliable approach is to test both with and without links, on separate sub-IDs.
Topic tags and search: put the actual words in your post
Threads introduced tags in December 2023. They do not use the # symbol, and a single tag can be a phrase with spaces. In coverage at launch, Instagram head Adam Mosseri explained that limiting posts to one tag was meant to favour topic-based communities over "engagement farming."
The easy-to-miss part is how search behaves. When you follow a tag, posts without that tag can still show up in results if their text contains the term. So choosing your one tag matters, but so does naturally working the words your readers search for into the post itself.
- Choose one tag per post that is neither too broad nor too narrow, such as "FX" or "side hustle"
- In the post text, use the words readers actually type, such as "USD/JPY" or "how to start affiliate marketing"
- Change the tag to fit the topic instead of mechanically stamping the same one on every post
The Instagram connection: what to do with your existing followers
Threads was built by the Instagram team and launched in July 2023 as an app you sign up for with your Instagram account. If you already post on Instagram, some of that audience may be on Threads too.
The catch is that the people you gathered on Instagram are not necessarily interested in FX. Push FX referrals at followers you built with food or travel content and they will drift away. Threads makes it easy to shift how you present each topic, so mix in FX and side-hustle talk gradually and go deeper with the people who respond.
The funnel blueprint: reply → pinned post → explainer → sign-up
Turn the specs above into a Kingfin referral setup and you get four stages.
There are two reasons to put step 3 in the way instead of linking straight to the sign-up page. First, people who sign up after reading that it is an overseas service and what the risks are are less likely to say "nobody told me" later. Second, if your Threads posts disappear or the platform changes, the substance of your explanation still lives on your own site. For how to count by channel, see the sub-ID analysis template.
PR labels, and what you must not write
A post that earns a referral commission is an advertisement. In a notice dated March 28, 2023 (Cabinet Office Notice No. 19), Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency designated stealth marketing, meaning representations by a business that are not recognisable as such, as a misleading representation under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, and it has been regulated since October 1, 2023. Violations can lead to a cease-and-desist order.
The rules apply directly to advertisers, but advertisers are expected to manage their affiliate ads, and if you skip the label, the relationship with the advertiser will not last. On Threads, stick to the following.
| Do / avoid | Examples |
|---|---|
| PR label up front | "PR" or "Ad" at the very start of the post. Do not tuck it deep in a text attachment or only in the replies |
| No absolute claims | Never write "guaranteed profit," "principal guaranteed," or "anyone can make ¥X a month" |
| No cherry-picked results | Do not line up screenshots of winning trades while hiding the losing ones |
| State the registration status | In your explainer article, make clear that the referred service is an overseas service not registered with Japan's Financial Services Agency |
For how to word the label, see our guide to Japan's stealth marketing rules. Because conversations spread through replies on Threads, replies are also where it is easiest to overstate things. Hold your replies to the same standard as your posts.
What to do in your first 30 days
Threads is not "a replacement for X." It is a different place, where people get to know you through replies. Don't chase the headline user numbers; decide from your own sub-ID data. That is the surest way to avoid wasting the hours you put into your side business.
Frequently asked questions
[Disclaimer] OlympTrade is an offshore platform that is not registered with Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), so Japan's investor protection schemes do not apply. This article is informational and educational content from the Kingfin editorial team and is not investment or legal advice. Threads specs and user figures are based on information published by Meta and in news reports as of October 2026. Affiliate results and earnings are not guaranteed. For individual questions, such as whether a given ad falls under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, check the Consumer Affairs Agency's published materials or consult a lawyer or other professional. Investing and trading carry the risk of losing your principal.
