Major cryptocurrency exchanges are cutting ties with users in China following the latest crypto crackdown announcement by the Chinese government. Huobi has stopped letting new users in China sign up for its services while Binance has blocked account registrations using Chinese mobile phone numbers.
Major Crypto Exchanges Stop Signing Up Chinese Users
Following China’s latest crackdown announcement, several cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers said they have begun cutting ties with users in China.
Crypto exchange Huobi announced Sunday that it will “gradually retire existing mainland China users.” The exchange wrote:
To comply with local laws and regulations, Huobi Global has ceased account registration for new users in mainland China, effective September 24, 2021 (UTC+8). Huobi Global will gradually retire existing mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021.
Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun told Reuters, “On the very day we saw the notice, we started to take corrective measures.”
Meanwhile, Binance said it has blocked account registrations using Chinese mobile phone numbers and its app is also no longer available for download in China. A spokesperson for the exchange said:
Binance takes its compliance obligations very seriously and is committed to following local regulator requirements wherever we operate.
Binance has been under scrutiny from a long list of regulators worldwide, including those in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, and Canada. On Monday, the exchange ended some services in Singapore.
Tokenpocket, a crypto wallet provider, also said in a notice to clients that it would terminate services to users in mainland China in order to comply with Chinese regulations.
Some people see the crypto crackdown by the Chinese government as positive news that has little effect on the crypto industry. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently explained that China has “less and less” influence over the crypto market. Meanwhile, several U.S. lawmakers see the Chinese crackdown as a big opportunity for the U.S. to lead in the area of cryptocurrency.
What do you think about crypto exchanges cutting ties with users in China? Let us know in the comments section below.
