Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange that has attracted multiple warnings from regulators, said it would stop offering its peer-to-peer trading service in China by the end of 2021 in a move that would represent a clean break from a market it largely withdrew from in 2017.
The move was made “in response to regulatory and policy demand”, the company said in an announcement on its website on Wednesday. The peer-to-peer service has enabled mainland China residents to buy and sell digital currencies bilaterally using fiat currencies such as the yuan, even though Binance all but quit China in 2017 after the government cracked down hard on cryptocurrency exchanges that year.
“Since 2017, Binance has not been engaged in the exchange business in China,” it said on its website, adding that it had been focused on fulfilling its compliance obligations.
Binance’s move comes after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) warned recently that any foreign cryptocurrency exchange that provides services to Chinese citizens through the internet is engaged in illegal financial activities.
Any people or organisations providing sales and marketing, payment settlement or technical support “who knowingly or should know that they are engaged in virtual currency related business” will be investigated in accordance with the law, the central bank said.
Read more in South China Morning Post