Chinese financial regulators are moving to block more than 100 overseas crypto exchanges that are offering trading services to Chinese residents.
Shanghai Securities Times, a mouthpiece of Chinese financial regulators, reported on Thursday the China National Fintech Risk Rectification Office identified so far 124 trading platforms with overseas IP addresses but available in the country.
To continue cracking down crypto trading activities in China, the Office will step up its efforts to monitor the space and block the internet access to these trading platforms, the report said.
Authorized in 2016 by China’s State Council, the National Fintech Risk Rectification Office is a government agency that tackles on financial risks related to issues like peer-to-peer lending and cryptocurrency trading.
In September 2017, the People’s Bank of China notably announced a rule to ban initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto trading in the country. Following the notice, major exchanges based in China at the time moved their businesses overseas.
Currently, the internet access to several major exchanges by trading volumes such as Binance, OKEx, and Bitfinex appears to be unavailable via IP addresses in China.
Today’s report also said the agency will permanently shut down domestic websites and official accounts on the WeChat messaging app if they are found to be providing crypto trading and ICO services.
The agency further indicated it is in talks with third-party payments vendors that are required to scrutinize and halt accounts that are suspicious of handling cryptocurrency transactions, the report added.
The news came just two days after several Chinese cryptocurrency media were banned from operating on WeChat, as reported by CoinDesk.
WeChat’s owner Tencent confirmed with business media Caixin on Wednesday the reason for the ban was because these accounts were found to have provided crypto trading and ICO services. Some of them were ordered to shut down permanently, the report said.
Barrier image via CoinDesk
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.