Binance to Cease Chinese Yuan Trades and Restrict Access for Users From China

In an attempt to comply with local regulations, Binance has announced it will stop servicing OTC deals involving the yuan for Chinese users as of December 31st, 2021. Shortly after the statement, the price of BTC and most of the market dipped.

• In an October 13th post, Binance said it will cease servicing OTC trading for the Chinese yuan as of December 31st at 24:00 (East Eighth District Time).
• The company will also examine all the platform users, and if it determines that any of them are based in mainland China, it will switch their accounts to a “withdraw only” mode. Meaning, they will be able to only close positions and withdraw their funds out of the exchange.
• Binance justified its decision with the ongoing crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry from Chinese authorities.
• The country and its central bank took their hostile stance a step further this year and prohibited all local organizations from dealing with any companies even remotely associated with the digital asset space in September 2021.
• As a result, over 20 firms had to close their local shops, including other large exchanges like KuCoin and Huobi.
• According to the popular Chinese journalist Colin Wu, the most utilized social media platform in China – WeChat – has started to block searches for digital asset trading platforms as well. Wu tweeted that “almost all websites and apps in China have blocked or will block exchanges.”
• As it happened during the previous Chinese ban reiteration, the tokens of some decentralized exchanges rapidly surged in value after today’s announcement from Binance, Wu added.
• At the same time, most of the cryptocurrency market is in red. Bitcoin traded above $56,500 before a sudden violent candle drove it south by roughly $2,000. As of now, BTC has calmed around $55,000.