It has only been last week that reports that the People’s Bank Of China (PBOC) is ordering banks and payment processors to close the accounts used by Bitcoin Exchanges circulated on the Chinese financial press. Today the rumors seem to be confirmed as the first effects of this ban are taking shape.
One of the leading Cryptocurrencies exchange in China, BTC38 has just announced in an announcement to its clients that the trading venue would no longer accept deposits in Chinese Yuan, the only fiat currency it accepted before. The announcement cites the ban by the PBOC as the reason that fiat Payments will no longer be available but adds that trading cryptocurrencies will continue as normal.
BTC38 stats that they are working on innovative future solutions for legal Yuan deposits but "in this sensitive moment, we are temporarily unable to reveal more."
Speaking with DC Magnates today after the announcement of BTC38, Leon Li the CEO of the largest Chinese Bitcoin Exchange Huobi reaffirmed his position that no official notice was given yet to the exchange, its payment providers nor its banks by the PBOC and therefore no action has been taken yet. He said: "So far we haven't received official notice. We are also waiting to hear the official confirmation."
At the time of writing the price has Bitcoin has dropped to $430, suggesting that despite that the fact that market participants should have factored in the PBOC ban, new news reaffirming it can cause panic selling. This continues the trend of a death by a thousand cuts we noticed seems to be the approach the PBOC is taking to drive Bitcoin into the ground.
