|
On the afternoon of September 26, Huobi Global Station issued an announcement stating that in response to relevant regulatory requirements, Huobi Global Station has stopped new user registration in mainland China on September 24, 2021. For existing users whose identities are authenticated as mainland China, it is planned to complete the orderly withdrawal before 24:00 on December 31, 2021, while ensuring the safety of user assets. The specific withdrawal details will be notified to users through announcements, emails, in-site letters and text messages.
It is reported that Huobi is one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world. According to WhaleAlert data, as of 16:00 today, 22,000 bitcoins (about 5.88 billion yuan) were transferred out of Huobi in the previous hour.
Some analysts pointed out that this move may be a transfer from Huobi's cold wallet to a hot wallet to cope with the withdrawal surge caused by the withdrawal of mainland Chinese users.
Several virtual currency platforms shut down
In addition to Huobi, another virtual currency trading platform Binance has reportedly stopped user registration in mainland China. China Securities Journal reporters found that when new users register an account, if they choose a phone number with the mainland China +86 area code, they will not be able to complete the registration.
It is reported that after the three major financial industry associations and the Financial Committee of the State Council announced a crackdown on virtual currency transactions, Binance stopped mobile phone registration in mainland China, and then reopened it on August 16.
Affected by the suspension of services by the virtual currency giant's trading platform, the price of Bitcoin took a sharp turn for the worse at 16:00 on September 26, plummeting by nearly $2,000 in one hour. The virtual currency market was in a state of panic, with funds clearly fleeing. UAlCoin data showed that virtual currency contracts had a total liquidation of more than 1.2 billion yuan in one day, with the largest single liquidation amount reaching 18.47 million yuan.
Image source: OKEX
Image source: UALcoin
Some virtual currency platforms have simply chosen to cease operations.
On September 25, the trading platform BHEX (Coin Core) issued an "Announcement on the Permanent Closure of Platform Services and Publicity of the Liquidation Process", stating that in response to regulatory requirements around the world and in compliance with the operational requirements of local cryptocurrency laws and regulations, the BHEX platform will gradually close services from now on, and only provide withdrawal services after October 9, and will be permanently closed on October 16, 2021. After the platform is closed, users will not be able to use all trading functions on the website and APP.
On September 24, the trading platform BiONE announced that it will be permanently shut down for maintenance at 24:00 on September 29, 2021. Users are requested to withdraw their holdings to other exchanges or wallets before September 29, 2021. The platform will not be responsible for any failure to withdraw the coins after the deadline.
Termination of virtual currency tools related business
Not only trading platforms, but also virtual currency-related service tools have begun to terminate their operations in mainland China.
On September 25, the official website of DeFi data website DeBank showed that it had terminated some functions and services for users in mainland China, retaining only the function of viewing on-chain balances.
DeBank stated that it will actively cooperate with the regulatory measures of relevant departments and refer to relevant regulatory clauses. It will only provide relevant functions and services to users in regions that comply with relevant regulatory rules.
The decentralized multi-chain wallet TokenPocket issued an announcement that it actively embraces relevant regulatory terms and will terminate some of the relevant functional services for users in mainland China, terminate services for third-party DApps that may be involved in transactions and do not comply with relevant normative documents or laws and regulations, and retain the basic service functions of the wallet. It will only provide services to users in regions that comply with relevant regulatory rules. In the future, it will actively cooperate with relevant departments and resolutely investigate and monitor illegal third-party platform content.
Regulatory "heavy punch" shakes the cryptocurrency circle
Since May this year, domestic regulatory policies on virtual currencies have continued to tighten, and the crackdown on virtual currency mining and trading has continued to intensify. The virtual currency industry is facing an unprecedented regulatory storm.
On September 24, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate and other ten ministries and commissions issued the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading Speculation". The "Notice" clearly states that virtual currency exchange, buying and selling virtual currencies as a central counterparty, providing matchmaking services for virtual currency transactions, token issuance financing, and virtual currency derivatives transactions are all illegal financial activities, which are strictly prohibited and resolutely banned in accordance with the law; overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to residents in my country through the Internet are also illegal financial activities.
Some industry insiders pointed out that the content of the "Notice" directly targets virtual currency trading platforms and OTC (over-the-counter) merchants.
Guo Yatao, head of the Lian Law team, told a reporter from China Securities Journal that the Notice emphasizes that people who provide services to foreign exchanges in China need to bear corresponding legal responsibilities, and clarifies three types of behaviors by enumerating them: marketing and promotion, payment settlement, and technical support. This means that if operating a trading platform and providing services is defined as an illegal financial activity, then those who provide services for illegal financial activities need to bear responsibility. (China Securities Journal)
|
