This week, popular crypto exchange Binance revealed that it added two new fiat on-ramps for Chinese customers to buy Bitcoin, through popular peer-to-peer platforms Alipay and WeChat.
But just as word had begun to spread of the new addition to the world’s crypto market leader, Alipay is now refuting the claim and says that it will “immediately stop payment services” if the transaction is identified as being related to Bitcoin or other crypto assets.
Not So Fast, Binance, Alipay To Block Crypto & Bitcoin Transactions
The young crypto market is still an arms race for crypto exchanges, trading platforms, and other crypto-related services such as wallets, price aggregators, and more. Competition is always looking to one-up one another, and claim as much market share as they can as their own.
No crypto exchange has done a better job coming out swinging and stealing market share from the rest of the competition as Binance has. The crypto exchange exploded on the scene at the tail end of 2017, and in just two short years has grown to become the leader in the market, often bringing new, innovative features to the forefront to the crypto industry, and setting trends for others to follow.
Related Reading | Binance Turns Two: A Look Back at The Young Crypto Unicorn
Recently in an attempt to spread adoption and bring in more revenue from Chinese consumers, Binance added support for two new fiat on-ramps, through popular messenger service WeChat, and through payment platform Alipay.
The crypto community rejoiced, just as they do over any move Binance makes and began discussing it via Twitter. Eventually, one Twitter user tweeted at Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao looking for confirmation, which he in all caps provided.
Moments later, Alipay responded, clarifying – again in all caps – that “NO, you cannot.” They followed up saying that the payments platform provider had received “several reports” about Alipay being used for Bitcoin transactions.
NO, you cannot. https://t.co/J0YMTz3FZW
— Alipay (@Alipay) October 10, 2019
Alipay explained they monitor transactions to “identify irregular behavior and ensure compliance with relevant regulations.” If any transactions were discovered to be related to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Alipay says they will “immediately” stop the payment services related to the purchase.
“If any transactions are identified as being related to bitcoin or other virtual currencies, @Alipay immediately stops the relevant payment services,” a tweet read.
Following the imbroglio, Alipay shared an official statement on their Weibo account, and loosely translated explains that the firm will “resolutely repel” any accounts suspected of “virtual currency transactions.”
Related Reading | Report: China Has “Capabilities” and “Strong Motive” to Destroy Bitcoin
Alipay may be feeling pressure from the Chinese government. According to crypto influencer Dovey Wan, the Chinese OTC market had been slowing due to payment channels and even local police taking “various actions” against crypto and Bitcoin transactions.
Alipay officially reaffirmed its “Prohibition of cryptocurrency OTC trading” on its Weibo today (auto translation below)
Starting from Aug, China OTC market has been slowing down quite a bit due to various actions taken by both payment channels and local police pic.twitter.com/z3ZqzyJpvn
— Dovey Wan ? ? (@DoveyWan) October 10, 2019
With Alipay clearly being so adamant about blocking users from buying crypto on Binance, will the crypto exchange need to retract their previous statement that the services are available, or can a resolution be met?