Things in the Chinese cryptocurrency market has hit the fan. An inspection of cryptocurrency platforms by the People’s Bank of China to protect investors’ interest has gradually turned into a full-blown war against cryptocurrency.
Emerging reports from various segments of the Chinese cryptocurrency community suggests that the PBOC started taking increased interest in the exchanges by the end of last year. HaoBTC is the latest casualty of the new developments as it announced the decision to stop offering exchange services.
HaoBTC’s decision comes days after its meeting with PBOC officials along the country’s eight other cryptocurrency platforms. However, HaoBTC will continue providing its primary services – mining and online wallet. CnLedger, a leading cryptocurrency and blockchain news channel on Twitter has shared a list of exchanges along with the changes made to their offerings following interaction with the central bank.
The eight other cryptocurrency platforms that participated in the PBOC meeting along with HaoBTC includes CHBTC, BtcTrade, Yunbi, Yuanbao, BTC100, Jubi, BitBays and Dahonghuo. CHBTC has joined the ranks of OKCoin and Huobi after suspending Bitcoin withdrawals for a period of one month. Others have taken a less severe approach by strengthening their withdrawal review and verification process.
HaoBTC, before announcing the closure of its exchange services had hinted about the possibility of an increased deposit fee. The platform had plans of increasing the deposit fee to 5% with the intention of combating pyramid scheme while ensuring enough margins to implement necessary compliance systems as directed by PBOC.
By the end of last week, OKCoin and Huobi had announced their decision to freeze Bitcoin withdrawals from the accounts. Another major Chinese Bitcoin exchange, BTCC announced the introduction of a 72-hour review period before processing bitcoin withdrawals.
The Chinese central bank seems to have come up with restrictive measures for the cryptocurrency industry after numerous reports indicated the use of Bitcoin to circumvent capital controls. All cryptocurrency platforms in the country are expected to strengthen their AML and KYC policies further this month, to satisfy the central bank.
Ref: CnLedger | Image: NewsBTC
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