China central bank’s Shanghai unit officially announces to crack down on crypto exchanges
Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has officially announced that it will crack down on cryptocurrency exchanges in the city.
According to an official announcement Friday, the regulator said it will “adopt monitoring measures such as interviews, inspections, and bans on the monitored entities involved in virtual currency activities to resolve related risks in a timely manner.”
Cryptocurrency speculation is rising amidst recent promotion of blockchain technology in China, said the central bank, adding that investors should not mix blockchain technology with cryptocurrencies.
“There are multiple risks in virtual currency issuance financing and trading, including false asset risk, business failure risk, investment speculation risk, etc. Investors should enhance their risk prevention awareness and beware of being fooled. Being cheated,” said the regulator.
The official announcement comes after the Shanghai government, including the PBoC's Shanghai unit, inspected cryptocurrency exchanges in the city this week. The target of this investigation was businesses that conduct cryptocurrency trading, token sales, and distributions of tokens from overseas initial coin offerings.
Earlier today, the government of another Chinese city - Shenzhen - also started investigating cryptocurrency exchanges for illegal activities. The finance bureau of Shenzhen municipality has identified 39 undisclosed cryptocurrency exchanges for the initiative.
