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China to ban bitcoin exchanges: reports

Bloomberg Published on Mon, Sep 11, 2017 / 3:50 PM GMT+8

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(Sept 11): China plans to ban trading of bitcoin and other virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the US$150 billion ($201 billion) cryptocurrency market after the country outlawed initial coin offerings last week.

The ban will only apply to trading of cryptocurrencies on exchanges, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Authorities don’t have plans to stop over-the-counter transactions, the people said. China’s central bank said it couldn’t immediately comment.

Bitcoin slumped on Friday after Caixin magazine reported China’s plans, capping the virtual currency’s biggest weekly retreat in nearly two months. The country accounts for about 23% of bitcoin trades and is also home to many of the world’s biggest bitcoin miners, who use vast amounts of computing power to confirm transactions in the digital currency.