WSJ: China to close bitcoin exchanges

The Chinese government is said to be planning to close certain domestic bitcoin exchanges. That reports The Wall Street Journal citing sources familiar with the government’s plans.

The Chinese central bank is said to have issued instructions that prohibit certain Chinese trading platforms from trading bitcoin or other digital currencies any longer. It may take a few months before this is finally implemented on all relevant platforms. The ban would apply to trading exchanges, and not to platforms where over-the-counter financial transactions take place directly between two people. The Chinese central bank has not responded to a request for comment. According to Bloomberg, the three largest bitcoin exchanges in China have not yet received instructions from the government to stop trading.

China has been regulating cryptocurrency trade more strictly for some time now. Recently, the Chinese central bank banned new ICOs, or initial coin offerings. According to the Chinese institution, ICOs are “unapproved, illegal fundraising”. The bank compares the issues with pyramid schemes and, after investigation, believes that the practices endanger financial stability. In fact, ICOs became more and more popular, especially for financing projects.