China seems determined to make crypto illegal, and it has been hinting at serious measures since a few years back. First, it banned initial coin offerings (ICOs), then it banned trading platforms, and then it went as far as to forbid Chinese financial firms and payment companies from providing crypto and ICOs, to protect investors and eliminate any financial risks.
But as of the beginning of this year, China has been introducing new bans, and now, we have news that ten major regulatory Chinese agencies have started working together to make crypto illegal once and for all and punish those who are even remotely involved with digital currencies.
China’s Regulatory Agencies Join Forces
The National Development and Reform Council, the central People’s Bank of China and the central banking, securities and foreign exchange regulators have joined forces, trying to push crypto out of the country for good.
Many efforts have been put into this over the past few years, but it looks like now, Chinese regulators have vowed to put an end to crypto once and for all.
Stricter rules on digital currencies are planned, and regulators now intend on punishing those who are found involved in crypto. The country plans on enforcing the rules and severely punish those who are mining, trading and even working with overseas platforms from within the borders. And while until now, people were still finding ways around the regulations, it looks like now they’ll think twice before they engage in such illegal activities, because as of now, cryptocurrencies are illegal in China and being involved with crypto is punishable by law.
How Will the Crackdown Impact Cryptocurrencies?
When China announced its intentions to fully ban crypto earlier this year, we saw Bitcoin and other major digital currencies’ values lower. When the State Council promised to crack down on Bitcoin mining in May, though, the fall was more severe than the fall we saw on Friday.
Since it remains to be seen whether China will actually be capable to find and punish those individuals and platforms breaking the rules, nothing has drastically changed so far. It looks like those determined to stay involved with crypto would likely still find ways to do so, despite the new rules. Simply managing their funds outside China’s borders would be one way to go.
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