China Regulations Suspend Bitcoin, Crypto-Related Weibo, Baidu Accounts
While most parts of the globe barely knew about the cryptoverse, China emerged as one of the first countries to embrace the industry. Now, as every nation seemed to move into the industry, China decided to ban all crypto. The country mercilessly took down prominent Bitcoin mining giants and imposed a blanket ban on the industry.
Despite this, several Chinese residents continued to express their interest in the market. However, China was clearly on a mission to slow down everything related to crypto. Therefore, the Cyberspace Administration of China decided to take down over 12,000 crypto-related social media accounts.
The Chinese government has been quite vocal about its stance on the industry. The bear market further reinforced this notion as Bitcoin fell below $20K.
But the National Cyberspace Administration of China had taken precautions even before the bear market peaked. The regulator continued to tackle misinformation on social media promoting cryptocurrencies.
It was revealed that over 12,000 Weibo and Baidu accounts were closed for the same reason. In addition to this, over 51,000 illegal pieces of information were taken down. This included information that propagated “Easy to make money by investing in Bitcoin.”
Furthermore, 500 different websites were interviewed and 105 were closed. These sites were said to be involved in supporting cryptocurrencies as well as formulating guides on cross-border currency speculation along with information related to crypto mining.
The latest news comes as no surprise given China’s reluctance towards Bitcoin. It is likely that the Chinese government will continue to block all crypto from its region.
How is Bitcoin doing in China?
Despite the ban, several reports emerged of underground mining in the country. It seems that BTC-related activity has not completely ceased in the region.
As shown in the chart above, the weekly LocalBitcoins volume had taken a hit. From its peak in 2017, it has witnessed a rather dramatic fall. Nevertheless, there was still some activity in the region. Therefore, several noticed how certain Chinese citizens would continue to embrace Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, albeit the ban.
Meanwhile, at press time, Bitcoin was holding on to the $23K level.
