Domestic Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges Yunbi, Dahonghua, and Yuanbao have delisted markets for tokens distribution through initial coin offerings following China’s strict crackdown on ICOs.
Yunbi has issued a statement declaring that trading for “QTUM, GXS, EOS, ANS, DGD, 1ST, GNT, REP, SNT, OMG, PAY, LUN, and VEN” pairings have been suspended. Dahonghuo has stated that the “trading platform firmly supports the decision of the regulators,” and that it will “actively implement” all “principles set by the regulatory authorities”. Yuanbao has also issued a notice stating that it will “stop service for ICO tokens.”
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange, Bitbays, has posted a notice stating that it has ceased operations. The notice states that “due to the new regulatory changes led by China’s central bank, the British company Bitbays decides to cease operations of its digital asset exchange ‘Bi Bei Wang’ in China. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.” Bitbays has since posted a tweet stating that the company has “migrated to mixcoins.com”, and that user “funds are safe.”
Chinese Authoritites Will “Closely Monitor the Dynamics” of the Cryptocurrency Industries At the start of September, The People’s Bank of China and seven state ministries and commissions initiated a sweeping crackdown on initial coin offerings operating in China, describing ICOs as comprising “non-approved illegal open financing behavior, suspected of illegal sale Tokens, illegal securities issuance and illegal fund-raising, financial fraud, pyramid schemes and other criminal activities.” As a consequence, Chinese authorities “will closely monitor the dynamics, strengthen cooperation with the judicial departments and local governments, in accordance with the existing working mechanism. […] Suspected criminal problems, will be transferred to the judiciary.”
China’s regulators have since mandated that financial institutions carry out daily monitoring of bank accounts associated with ICOs, and prohibited banks from providing financial services to companies conducting token sales.
Do you think China will be successful in its bid to eradicate ICOs from within its borders? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!