China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading. Though China has banned crypto exchanges and initial coin offerings but has not barred individuals from holding cryptocurrencies.
Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrency, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement, three industry bodies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
This moves were not Beijing’s first moves against digital currency. In 2017, China shut down its local cryptocurrency exchanges, smothering a speculative market that had accounted for 90% of global bitcoin trading. In June 2019, the People’s Bank of China issued a statement saying it would block access to all domestic and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges and Initial Coin Offering websites, aiming to clamp down on all cryptocurrency trading with a ban on foreign exchanges.
