Chinese Government Closes Almost 200 Crypto Exchanges: Report

The Chinese government shut down about 200 crypto exchanges and token issuing platforms according to the People’s Bank of China financial report. The country will reportedly continue to crack down on ‘’unlicensed payment’’ businesses which include some of the lending institutions and other financial companies that operate on the internet as we are about to find out in the coming altcoin news.

While the mixed emotions from the Chinese government don’t seem to stop coming, it is safe to say that there is nothing ambivalent about the view of the country towards the digital assets. The country’s government has been tightening its grip over the industry and cryptocurrencies were the last ones that got hit. The latest released Financial Stability Report shows that the PBOC stated that 1 virtual currency trading and token issuing platforms were closed without risk.

Initially shared on Twitter by the Chinese blockchain outlet cnLedger, the news quickly became popular since many feared that the drop in trading volume could keep the price of bitcoin declining. The crypto exchanges were not the only ones that got closed. According to the PBoC’s report, the Chinese government prompted ‘’special rectification of financial risks on the internet’’ which decreased the number of online lending platforms to 1,490.

With the latest shut down of about 200 companies, the Chinese Government has a clear path to a broader crackdown on the industry. According to Finenews Asia, Shanghai offices of the People’s Bank of China said that they will prosecute ‘’illegal activities regarding virtual currencies.’’ The authorities in the city of Shenzhen also started their own campaign aimed at cracking down illegal activities of the crypto exchanges which led to more than 39 exchanges getting investigated.

Some other departments followed with similar statements and many of them said that Bitcoin and Ethereum will be the main focus of the regulators. The goal to eliminate the crypto industry from the country is in correspondence with the country’s plans to launch its own stable coin. There are no official statements from the Chinese government but rumors about the PBoC issued stabelcoin have been around for months as reported in the previous blockchain news.