Report: China's central bank orders probe of cryptocurrency activities in Shanghai

The Shanghai government is now inspecting some cryptocurrency-related activities, including trading and token sales, according to an official announcement verified by Chinese financial news site Caixin. 

The announcement, dated Nov. 14, was issued by the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau. The two agencies ordered the district administrative offices in Shanghai to investigate cryptocurrency-related activities in the city and finish the inspection by Nov. 22.  

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The target of this investigation is businesses that conduct cryptocurrency trading, token sales, and distributions of tokens from overseas initial coin offerings (ICOs). Once identified, these firms will be reported to the PBOC and the financial regulatory bureau. They will also be required to shut down their businesses. 

Recently, Chinese social media site Weibo banned the official accounts of cryptocurrency exchange Binance and blockchain project Tron Foundation, citing "violations of laws and regulations and the relevant provisions of the Weibo Community Convention." However, the Weibo accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges Huobi and OKEx are intact. 

About Author

Celia joined The Block as a reporter after earning her BA in the History of Science from the University of Chicago. Having spent years pondering over why 2+2 cannot equal 5, she is interested in the history and philosophy of mathematics, computation, and cryptography. She also had a very brief stint at Crunchbase News.