- Search engine giants in China blocks Binance, Huobi and OKex.
- These exchanges have also been blocked by the biggest social media platforms in the country.
Recently, it was reported that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has accelerated its crackdowns on cryptocurrencies and related business. The reasons given by the bank were that they are highly speculative and lacked real value. PBOC ordered financial institutions and payment platforms to not process crypto-related transactions. They also banned crypto exchanges that mostly offer leverage trading to Chinese users. However, they did not prevent people from holding the assets.
According to the latest developments, some of the biggest crypto exchanges which include Binance, Huobi, and OKex have been blocked by major search engines in China.
Breaking: On June 9th, all Chinese search engines such as Baidu and Sogou have blocked the three major exchanges: Binance Huobi and OKEx. pic.twitter.com/pmRZkIvOzn
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 9, 2021
A search of these exchanges on Baidu and Sogou returns no results. Wu Blockchain broke the news and disclosed that the biggest social media platforms in China have also blocked these exchanges.
It was not only search engines that blocked the three major exchanges, but also social media such as Weibo (China’s Twitter) and Zhihu (China’s quora).
In a statement explaining the blockage, Weibo revealed that their decision is by the new relevant laws, regulations, and policies.
China crypto exchanges crackdown stems from 2017
China was a major culprit of the market crash that happened in 2018. Starting from 2017, they initiated crackdowns on local cryptocurrency exchanges to take away a market that accounted for about 90 percent of global Bitcoin trading.
In 2019, they reemphasized their stand against crypto by stating they would block access to all domestic and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges and banned ICOs. Three industry bodies – the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association, and the Payment and Clearing Association of China collaborated in the effort citing that trading contracts are not protected by the Chinese laws. According to them, cryptocurrencies have no real value, and their prices are manipulated.
In the recent measures, the three industry bodies urged their members not to open crypto-related accounts, registration, settlement and insurance, trading, and clearing.
Binance was very popular among Chinese traders, having allowed them to open accounts online. It also helped them convert the Chinese Yuan to crypto using the peer-to-peer deals in the OTC markets. The transactions were made through Alipay or WeChat Pay and banks. This move will make it difficult for the Chinese to trade in cryptos, which may add more FUD to the already fragile market.
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