China breaking: Crypto traders to serve over 10 years in jail

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) – China has prohibited financial institutions and payment businesses from offering services connected to cryptocurrency transactions and has urged investors against participating in speculative cryptocurrency trading.

It was China’s latest move to restrict a growing digital trading economy. According to the prohibition, such institutions, including banks and online payment channels, are not permitted to provide clients with any cryptocurrency-related services, including registration, trading, clearing, and settlement, three industry organizations said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

This is what the “statement” says

China has prohibited the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings but has not prohibited people from owning cryptocurrencies.

According to the statement, the institutions must not provide bitcoin saving, trust, or pledging services, nor issue cryptocurrency-related financial instruments.

These were not Beijing’s first anti-digital currency efforts. China shut down its domestic cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017, suffocating a speculative industry that had accounted for 90% of global bitcoin trade.

The People’s Bank of China published a statement in June 2019 stating that it will prohibit access to all local and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges and Initial Coin Offering websites, attempting to restrict all cryptocurrency trade with a ban on overseas exchanges.

The statement further emphasized the dangers of cryptocurrency trading, claiming that virtual currencies “are not underpinned by actual value,” that their values are readily manipulated, and that trade contracts are not protected under Chinese law.

The three industry associations are China’s National Internet Finance Association, China Banking Association, and China Payment and Clearing Association.

They claimed in a statement that “recently, cryptocurrency values have risen and fallen, and speculative trading of cryptocurrencies has resurfaced, putting people’s property in danger and upsetting the normal economic and financial order.”

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