China: 5 Crypto Exchanges Halt or Shut Services Amid Perceived Crackdown

At least five Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges have halted or chosen to terminate operations this month in response to a perceived redoubling of Beijing's anti-crypto stance.

Exchange operator Bitsoda informed the public on Nov. 23 of its decision to terminate services; Akdex followed suit, announcing its decision to shut down on Nov. 24.

With explicit reference to government policy, Btuex revealed on Nov. 25 that it would halt services immediately and reopen in the future for an overseas-only clientele.

On Nov. 4, crypto exchange Biss had announced it was "Actively cooperating" with investigations into its operations and planned to resume services as soon as possible.

While information surrounding the arrests remains piecemeal, reports claim that regulatory authorities found Biss' services to be in violation of Chinese capital controls.

With exchanges and operators falling into line, Bloomberg has this week published a report claiming that these recent developments represent "The biggest cleanup of the sector" since Beijing's historic rout in Sept. 2017.

Citing data from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, Bloomberg's report notes that 20 of the top 50 global crypto exchanges are based in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for an estimated 40% of Bitcoin transactions in the first half of 2019.

Within Asia-Pacific, Chainalysis' data indicates that the lion's share of exchanges are based in China.

"It appears that, like everything else within their borders, China feels it needs to have tighter controls on the crypto market including exchanges, miners and asset issuers."

As Cointelegraph reported, crypto exchange IDAX has today suspended deposits and withdrawals generally after its CEO allegedly disappeared.