The upgrade of anti-money laundering rules in the Bitcoin market does not rule out the possibility that the platform will also issue a series of statements

The investigation of the Bitcoin market is gradually deepening. After the gradual prohibition of issues such as trading leverage, anti-money laundering and other functional supervision has become the focus of work. Nine Bitcoin trading platform companies collectively released anti-money laundering upgrade measures on the 9th. At the same time, Huobi.com issued an announcement on the evening of the 9th, saying that it would fully upgrade the anti-money laundering system to effectively combat money laundering, currency exchange and pyramid schemes. And from the time of the announcement, Bitcoin withdrawals will be suspended, while RMB withdrawals will not be affected.

Last night, Huobi.com and nine other trading platforms suddenly issued a self-examination announcement, saying that they will further curb speculation in the Bitcoin market and prevent the possibility of illegal pyramid schemes, money laundering and currency exchange through Bitcoin. Huobi.com will strengthen customer identification, strengthen the review and supervision of the source of funds and users who withdraw money, and may take measures to restrict withdrawals, transactions, and freeze suspicious assets if suspicious user behavior is found.

This is also a major change in the attitude of Bitcoin trading platforms after the central bank suddenly interviewed 9 small and medium-sized trading platforms on the 8th. These platforms collectively responded to the anti-money laundering and related issues that the outside world is concerned about. Previously, these platforms were mostly cooperating with the central bank's investigation or waiting to see the central bank's attitude.

On the 8th, the central bank inquired about 9 small and medium-sized Bitcoin trading platforms, which made the market feel that this investigation was unusual. According to the announcement, on the 8th, the central bank reminded them of the possible legal risks, policy risks and technical risks of the trading platforms, and put forward clear requirements: they must not engage in financial businesses such as financing and currency lending in violation of regulations, and must not violate national anti-money laundering, foreign exchange management, payment and settlement and other financial laws and regulations. The central bank particularly emphasized that if there are any violations, the inspection team will request the relevant departments to shut down and abolish them according to law if the circumstances are serious.

"All this shows that the inspection of Bitcoin is entering deep waters." The person in charge of a platform said in an interview with a reporter from the Shanghai Securities News that on the 9th, 9 platform companies gathered at Huobi.com to discuss industry self-discipline issues, and then issued this anti-money laundering statement.

"Anti-money laundering and currency exchange issues have always been 'entangled' with Bitcoin," said a person familiar with the matter.

Since Bitcoin has strong international exchange convenience and is not subject to traditional financial geographical restrictions, funds can be transferred simply by trading on different domestic and foreign platforms. Therefore, currency exchange and anti-money laundering naturally become the focus of regulators.

"In fact, the foreign exchange problem is not as serious as expected or believed by the outside world. The situation in the anti-money laundering field is even more difficult for regulatory authorities to grasp," said an insider.

At the beginning of the investigation, the currency exchange issue received the most attention, and all platforms believed that they had complied with the KYC (know your customer) principle and had proper anti-money laundering measures. Therefore, the platforms collectively self-examined the anti-money laundering issues, and more people have realized the severity of the environment. The OKCoin company statement specifically emphasized that it will strengthen customer identification, strengthen the review of fund sources and withdrawals, upgrade anti-money laundering rules, and report suspicious transactions to relevant departments. The statements of the nine platforms also included the risks of pyramid schemes prompted by the regulators.

The CBRC's risk warning shows that such pyramid schemes often claim that the investment threshold is low, the cycle is short, and the returns are high. For example, after free registration, an investment of 60 to 60,000 yuan can be withdrawn after 15 days, with a daily return of 1%, a monthly return of 30%, and an annual return of 23 times, with no handling fees. In addition, if participants recruit others to join, they can also receive additional benefits such as recommendation awards (10% of the downline investment amount), management awards (the corresponding proportion is determined according to the membership level), and there is no upper limit on the number of recruits and rebates.

"This announcement is only the first result of the cooperation. The nine platforms are still in in-depth communication with the central bank, and it is not ruled out that a series of statements will be issued in the future." A person in charge of a platform said.