Highlights:

• China is all set to ban overseas websites which are related to ICO investments and Crypto Trading
• Domestic websites catering to Crypto Trading have already been closed down
• China wants to prevent financial risks by removing access to platforms dealing in virtual currency trading
• Prohibiting domestic sites could not put down the crypto trading market in China
• Regulations to become very stringent for domestic Chinese investors of virtual coins
• Several incidents of fraud indicating towards a social unrest amongst investors

The Chinese have always had their own ways and the same goes for Crypto rage too! The government of China as per reports is all set to block access to international websites which offer services in ICO investments and Cryptocurrency trading!

The Financial News website which has a tie-up with the People’s Bank of China has reported that Chinese government authorities are stepping up measures to sever the overseas websites soon. The planning for the same had begun almost a year ago as per the website and the Central Bank.

As quoted by the website, China wants to prevent financial risks by removing offshore and onshore access to platforms which are related to Virtual Currency trading or ICO fundraising as translated from a news piece in the South China Morning Post.

This move comes in addition to China officially banning Initial Coin Offering or ICO

investments a few months ago. Chinese have considered the blockchain use case as a form of illegal financing. “Overseas transactions and regulatory evasion have resumed .. risks are still there, fueled by illegal issuance, and even fraud and pyramid selling,” the article at the Financial News stated. The shutter for in-house online websites for crypto-trading have been officially put down by the Chinese govt. officials. Past fall the “Big Three” exchanges have also been closed down.

As per fresh reports, China now targets websites which are based overseas who cater to local customers. As quoted in South China Morning Post, these are counteractions to avoid people from using overseas platforms for virtual currency transactions. People in China had resorted to overseas websites after the domestic virtual currency exchanges were put down. This certainly means that the attempts to prohibit digital currencies by closing the domestic exchanges was unsuccessful in crypto trading eradications.

As per a separate report from the local Chinese language news service called Xinhua which was also published on bitcoin social media site called 8btc, a statement from the People’s Bank of China regarding the international website ban has been quoted. They state that Chinese Authorities are planning to prohibit all things which are crypto related! This includes blocking of both domestic and international cryptocurrency trading websites and crypto commercial businesses! Regulations will become very stringent for domestic investors participating in overseas transactions of ICOs and cryptocurrencies as risks are quite higher in the crypto sector as quoted by PBOC to Xinhua.

The measures seem will be put to immediate effectiveness. Beijing the capital of China has grown from being indifferent to intolerant for cryptocurrencies and trading. Banning websites is a tough step which will bring the virtual currency mania down. The frenzied retail investors who seem to have been affected by such tough measures have led to massive pricefluctuations of the virtual coins. Several incidents of fraud have also been reported indicative of a social unrest which is a pain for regulators right now!

In fact, one such incident of unrest amongst investors has come across wherein they have accused Jiang Jie, founder of ICO project ARTS of fraud! They forcibly manhandled him and took him to Beijing municipal financial bureau since the value of a virtual coin issued by ARTS had come down to 0.13 from 0.66 in just two weeks post it was listed on an ICO and exchange in late Jan’18.

The reports of the stamp out to ban foreign platforms have led to cryptocurrency advertisements to have ceased appearing from ‘Baidu’ the biggest search engine of China & ‘Weibo’ a social media platform of China.

This move in return opens paths for more regulatory measures whereby people who are seen to promote blockchain and crypto businesses or any such programs might also get arrested as per Donald Zhao, a bitcoin trader.

There are many people in China who are now relying on VPN’s (Virtual Private Networks) to trade in cryptocurrencies as the exchange platforms relocated to Singapore and Japan from China. A lot of investors like Donald Zhao have shifted residence and relocated to Japan and Singapore as well due to the ban enforced.

The Crypto Universe is certain to weigh down with this announcement. The move can cripple the crypto-trading empire of China with the great Chinese walls dragging down the cryptocurrency market.