Binance to End Crypto Trading in China Yuan

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The Chinese central bank singled out foreign exchanges when it declared all cryptocurrency-related transactions illegal. Photo: wu hong / Shutterstock

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has said it will stop allowing exchanges involving Chinese currency on its consumer-to-consumer platform, weeks after China made its strongest move in this regard. day against the use of digital assets.

Binance, which was founded in 2017 and initially based in China, announced on Wednesday that it will remove the option to buy or sell cryptocurrencies using the yuan in peer-to-peer trading after this year. From that point on, any user based in mainland China would only be allowed to withdraw or close their positions, the exchange added.

Last month, China’s central bank declared all cryptocurrency-related transactions illegal and singled out foreign exchanges, saying it is illegal for such offshore platforms to provide services over the internet to residents in China.

China banned cryptocurrency exchanges from operating within its borders in 2017 and recently decided to curb crypto-related activity by ordering financial companies to take a more active role in eliminating transactions and forcing crypto mining operations out of the country.

But individuals around the country have continued to find ways to trade bitcoin and other digital currencies with OTC or peer-to-peer transactions. Many Chinese users could access offshore exchanges using virtual private networks. Beijing’s latest ban on crypto transactions and services offered by foreign exchanges has targeted these loopholes.

Binance said the Chinese had not been able to access its website since 2017. After the new rules were announced, it said it started blocking account registrations using cell phone numbers. Chinese.

Binance is working with policymakers around the world to establish rules that will allow the cryptocurrency industry to thrive, a spokesperson for the exchange said on Wednesday.

Huobi, a rival crypto exchange that was also founded in China, announced last month that it would shut down all user accounts in mainland China by the end of the year.

Bitcoin stood at around $ 55,191 as of late afternoon in Hong Kong on Wednesday, down 4.2% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk.

Write to Elaine Yu at [email protected]

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Appeared in the October 14, 2021 print edition as “Crypto Exchange Binance to Prevent Trading With Yuan”.

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