Bobby Lee predicts the closure of OTC platforms in China

Pressure from Chinese authorities on the crypto industry will lead to the closure of OTC-platforms run by major exchanges. This was stated by Bobby Lee, co-founder and former BTCC head, in an interview CoinDesk.

“They will stop offering their services to residents of mainland China. There are still OTC users conducting transactions, but I think their numbers will gradually decrease,” Li said.

The popularity of OTC platforms among local traders began to rise in 2017 after tightening regulation in the country. Against the backdrop of new crackdowns Binance and Huobi have already ceased onboarding of new users on the mainland.

In Li’s view, authorities will treat cryptocurrencies as ‘foreign assets’ in a manner akin to real estate. Despite the regulatory situation, the former BTCC head expects Bitcoin to top $100,000 by the end of 2021.

In June Li said that the mining ban in China is aimed at deterring citizens from high-risk investments.

Earlier, the National Development and Reform Commission pointed to mining’s negative environmental impact and its ‘insignificant’ contribution to the country’s economy.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) characterised platforms that facilitate the exchange of digital assets among themselves or for fiat as illegal. Previously, PBoC official in charge of payments and settlements Wen Xinxian described cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as a threat to the traditional financial system.

Against this backdrop, the Ethereum mining pool SparkPool announced ceasing service to Chinese users, and subsequently halted operations outside the country.

The e-commerce giant Alibaba announced a ban on selling Bitcoin miners on its platform.

In late September, media reported the blocking of CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap analytics services on mainland China.

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