Friday, August 24, 2018

New Fierce Chinese Crackdown on Cryptocurencies


China is tightening its clampdown on cryptocurrencies, nearly a year after the government imposed a wide-ranging ban on local exchanges and fundraising for digital currencies.

Financial officials in an eastern district of Beijing issued a notice last week to stores, hotels and offices urging them not to host any cryptocurrency related speeches, events or activities. The document also asked that any activity be reported to local officials and said authorities were acting on
behalf of a working group led by the central bank to clean up cryptocurrency trading, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In a commentary published in state media on Friday, according to the Journal, Sheng Songcheng, an adviser to the People’s Bank of China, said that after fundraisings called initial coin offerings were banned last year, government regulation will become even more restrictive. He wrote that earlier this week, authorities blocked a number of public accounts involving ICOs on the popular messaging app WeChat .

One digital-currency venture capital fund in Shanghai was scheduled to host a blockchain event for about 300 people on Friday. After checking in with local authorities a few days ago, it was told to cancel the event, according to a person familiar with the matter.

China-founded Binance, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange world-wide by trading volume which now operates outside the country, canceled a media event that was scheduled to occur in Beijing on Friday, people familiar with the matter said.

-RW  

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