Media: More than 20 crypto firms exit China

After launched on 24 September 2021, Beijing’s new wave of crackdowns on the crypto industry saw more than 20 firms exit the Chinese market, according to China Securities Journal.

In a joint notice by the People’s Bank of China and nine state agencies, commercial operations with virtual currencies were classified as illegal financial activity with prospects of criminal prosecution, the publication noted.

For the first time among the institutions signing the central bank’s statement on cryptocurrencies were the Supreme Court, the People’s Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security, industry experts noted.

They argued that the domestic crypto market had suffered heavy losses and that prospects for a recovery may be slim.

On 24 September, Huobi, the bitcoin exchange, stopped registering new users from China. The platform warned that by 31 December it would delete existing accounts held by residents of the country.

However, Bloomberg reported that the decision to exit had already been made.

On 6 October, journalist Colin Wu reported that Huobi founder Li Lin decided to leave the country. He cited fears of persecution by authorities.

Smaller local platforms, including BiKi, BitMart and BHEX, announced closures.

The authorities in Inner Mongolia said they confiscated 10,100 mining devices and shut down more than 45 mining operations. The move is expected to save the region about 6.58 billion kWh of electricity per year, officials said.

In Jiangsu Province’s government they said that miners consume 260,000 kWh per day, and announced measures against them.

At the end of September, major Ethereum mining pools SparkPool and BeePool announced closures. F2Pool blocked new user registrations from China.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibababanned the sale of cryptocurrency mining equipment on its platform. The sale of mining devices in the country was halted by the largest manufacturer, Bitmain.

From 28 September, access to CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap from Chinese IP addresses was blocked.

As reported, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire urged the United States and other Western countries not to emulate China in regulating cryptocurrencies.

Senator Pat Toomey said that the crackdown on digital assets by Chinese authorities opens up great opportunities for the United States in the crypto industry.

The Fed chair Jerome Powell assured that the regulator does not intend to ban virtual currencies.