Cryptocurrency platforms struggle to remove Chinese users after Beijing ban

The new one Beijing blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining, the largest ever of a major economy, has made cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers strive to sever business ties with customers from China continental.

The Shares of a variety of crypto-related Chinese companies plunged in the prohibition that closes the gaps left in previous regulatory measures in the sector. Industry executives noted, however, that many companies had already moved key parts of their business out of China.

Ten powerful Chinese government bodies said in a joint statement on Friday that foreign exchanges were banned from serving mainland investors via the Internet, a previously gray area, and pledged to jointly root out “illegal” cryptocurrency activities. .

In response, Huobi Global and Binancetwo of the largest exchanges globally and popular with Chinese users, stopped new account registrations by mainland customers. Huobi also said it would clean up existing ones before the end of the year.

“The same day we saw the notice, we started taking corrective action,” Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi Group, said in a statement to Reuters.

Du did not give an estimate of how many of his users would be affected, saying only that Huobi had embarked on a global expansion strategy many years ago and had seen steady growth in Southeast Asia and Europe.

TokenPocket, A popular crypto wallet service provider, it also said in a notice to clients that it would cancel services to mainland Chinese clients who risk violating Chinese policies and will “actively adopt” the regulation.

Some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges originated in China, but Chinese authorities have come to view cryptocurrencies as speculative instruments lacking intrinsic value, prone to sharp price movements, and a means of circumventing capital controls. Instead, the Chinese authorities have supported the development of an official digital currency.

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