Central Bank Official Calls for China to Scrap Centralised Crypto-currency Trades

786

A senior official from the People’s Bank of China has called for the centralised trading of crypto-currencies to be banned outright in the country, according to internal documents seen by Reuters.

PBOC vice governor Pan Gongsheng said that the Chinese government would continue to put pressure on virtual currency trading as part of efforts to stymie risk in the market, according to an internal memo from a government meeting held last week between China’s Internet authorities and other key regulators.

According to the memo accessed by Reuters Pan called for China to ban platforms that permit the centralised trading of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, as well as prohibit the provision of market-making activities or settlement services for the centralised trading of such currencies.

Pan also wants the government to bar foreign websites and mobile apps from providing centralised crypto-currency trading services to Chinese users, and better scrutinise any platforms that facilitate the shifting of capital.

“The financial work conference clearly called for limiting ‘innovations’ that deviate from the need of the real economy and escape regulation,” said Pan according to the internal memo.

Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that Beijing planned to ban domestic access to platforms for the centralised trading of cryptocurrencies, irrespective of whether they were situated in China or abroad.

The reports arrive following a fraught year for the Chinese Fintech sector, with Beijing banning initial coin offerings and any online financing activities involving virtual currencies, while also launching a crackdown on Internet micro-lenders.