Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions and warned investors against speculative crypto trading.
The move has seen several coins on the digital currency market dip further in the bearish territory.
As at the time of this report, all seven benchmarked cryptocurrencies tracked by Business Post were trading in the negative territory.
The value of Bitcoin (BTC) has plunged by 24.8 per cent to trade at N17,599,261.57; Ethereum (ETH) has depreciated by 23.7 per cent to sell at N1,360,194.85; Ripple (XRP) has lost 15.4 per cent to sell N677.20; while Dash (DASH) has dropped 15.7 per cent to N127,000.00.
Also, the Litecoin (LTC) has declined by 10.7 per cent to trade at N130,000.00; Tron (TRX) has depreciated by 15.0 per cent to sell at N50.98, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) has fallen by 0.9 per cent to sell for N506.49.
Under the ban, institutions including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrencies, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement.
Through its regulatory agencies – the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association and the Payment and Clearing Association of China – the world’s second-largest economy said, “Recently, cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed and plummeted, and speculative trading of cryptocurrency has rebounded, seriously infringing on the safety of people’s property and disrupting the normal economic and financial order.”
The statement also highlighted the risks of cryptocurrency trading, saying virtual currencies “are not supported by real value”, their prices are easily manipulated, and trading contracts are not protected by Chinese law.
The newly announced ban means crypto exchanges won’t be able to support initial coin offerings but individuals will still be able to hold cryptocurrencies.
The move would not be the Asian giant’s first move against digital currency as it had clamped down on trading in 2017 and 2019.
