TL;DR Breakdown
- Over 20 crypto firms exit China.
- Beyond PBOC, 10 other Chinese authorities impose harder crypto regulation.
- Huobi exchange exit most painful for Chinese crypto community.
China has seen over 20 crypto firms in the country shut down as of Thursday, October 7, 2021, according to local news sources cited by the Chinese Journalist Colin Wu on Twitter.
The mass exodus is a direct implication of the ban by the Chinese government and the continued crackdown on these firms by local authorities.
Weeks back, the apex bank in the country, People’s Bank of China (PBOC), updated its crypto ban guideline as many crypto firms began shutting down operations to prevent further regulatory confrontation.
Ten other government departments also intensified crackdown on the currency. The latest guidelines extend into even the smallest aspect associated with cryptocurrencies and break them from the core.
The PBOC completely banished the “illegal” and “highly speculative” crypto market circled around, banning three core crypto activities: crypto mining, crypto trading, and service that foreign crypto firms mostly provide for Chinese customers.
Some crypto firms that have exit China
Top crypto firm, Huobi leads the pack of firms that have hit the Asian country. Huobi issued an official statement announcing its exit. Small and medium platforms such as BiKi and BHEX directly chose to stop operations under supervision.
The current largest Ethereum mining pool, Spark Pool, decided on September 24 to no longer provide mining pool services to users in China. Similarly, Authorities in Inner Mongolia have cleaned and shut down 45 virtual currency “mining” projects.
Huobi’s fallout appears surreal and is the most painful to the Chinese crypto community. Huobi founder Li Lin is moving out of China and has publicly apologized to the community via WeChat, claiming that his departure is intentioned towards his family’s safety.
