China’s Central Bank shuts down 11 crypto trading companies

The People's Bank of China has shut down 11 companies associated linked to illegal forex and cryptocurrency trading activities.

The Shenzhen branch of China’s apex bank had initially shortlisted 46 companies to be investigated for possible involvement in illegal virtual currency trading at the end of July. A special task force was created to identify companies and websites involved in illegal cryptocurrency trading.

In an official notification, the branch confirmed that a well-known domestic financial website was found guilty of violating foreign exchange deposit trading rules.

According to the notification, the bank succeeded to:

“Carry out special rectification of illegal virtual currency trading activities, and promptly clean up and rectify 11 newly emerging companies suspected of carrying out illegal virtual currency activities.  Completed the rectification of a well-known domestic financial website that was suspected of propagating violations of foreign exchange deposit trading and properly handled 8 reports of illegal and criminal activities related to online foreign exchange and cross-border stock trading.”

In addition to cryptocurrency trading websites, online forex and stock trading companies were also hit by the regulator.