It comes amid preparations for an economic slowdown, with fears about property giant Evergrande going bust and people wanting to move their money out

China announces complete ban on cryptocurrencies

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2021-09-24 19:30:22

It comes amid preparations for an economic slowdown, with fears about property giant Evergrande going bust and people wanting to move their money out of China.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has announced that all cryptocurrency-related financial activities are illegal, including transactions, providing pricing services, and launching new tokens.

According to a notice published on the central bank's website, it will be illegal for Chinese residents to purchase cryptocurrencies from overseas and even be involved in marketing or technical support relating to crypto businesses.

The authenticity of the announcement has been confirmed by Sky News' bureau in Beijing, but follows an announcement falsely claiming US retail giant Walmart would soon be accepting the cryptocurrency Litecoin, believed to have been perpetrated by people seeking to artificially inflate that cryptocurrency's value.

Sky News visited a secret Bitcoin mining farm in China earlier this year, shedding light on the world's centre for Bitcoin mining - accounting for 65% of the global total, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge.