China: Traders Turn To LocalBitcoins As Exchanges Stop Withdrawals
Chinese Bitcoin traders have inundated LocalBitcoins to convert their Yuan after major Chinese exchanges halted withdrawals last week. Following warnings about adhering to strict AML/KYC regulations by the People’s Bank of China, exchanges such as BTCC, Huobi and Okcoin stopped letting customers withdraw Bitcoin. “From now on, Huobi stops the withdrawal for Bitcoin and litecoin,” Huobi’s latest announcement stated Feb. 9. It is unknown when full functionality will return and under what rules. As a result, former Chinese customers appear to be using LocalBitcoins as a way of continuing to....
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The director of the People’s Bank of China has said regulators will adopt a “forgiving attitude” to Bitcoin exchanges in the future. In a translated report reproduced by local news resource cnLedger on Twitter, Zhou Xuedong said that the PBoC would choose an observation period in which exchanges would be monitored. He also suggested regulation in China may follow, giving the example of a licensing scheme - something expected and supported by exchanges and the wider community. The update comes after a relatively quiet period in China as exchanges prepare to comply with recommendations from....
Following the lead of two of the market's more prominent exchanges, at least six other China-based bitcoin exchanges have announced updates to withdrawal policies as part of a bid to tighten AML oversight. Announced today, BitBays, BTC100, BTCTrade, CHBTC, HaoBTC and Yunbi have all enacted changes to their withdrawal capabilities, a move that comes days after the exchanges were called to meet with the Beijing office of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), China's central bank. Notably, the policies issued differ from the more stringent halt of bitcoin and litecoin withdrawals imposed by....
China’s biggest Bitcoin exchange BTCC has announced it will halt cryptocurrency withdrawals until March 15 as it moves to comply with regulatory standards. In line with other major Chinese exchanges such as Huobi and Okcoin, BTCC is working on what it describes as “upgrading its inspection and verification system.” It promised that withdrawals would immediately resume once the process had completed and that users would be informed. Withdrawals in yuan remain unaffected. A circular sent to users Wednesday reads: “BTCChina will continue upgrading its inspection and verification system for....
The decision by China's bitcoin exchanges to freeze withdrawals is impacting the country's over-the-counter (OTC) markets. As reported by CoinDesk last week, two of China's 'Big Three' bitcoin exchanges abruptly suspended bitcoin withdrawals in response to new pressures from the People's Bank of China, a move that was followed by similar, though less restrictive, policy updates from exchanges across the country. But while the price was not significantly impacted, traders are reporting that they have had to shift strategies, as they believe exchanges no longer act as a reliable price....
As Chinese exchanges put BTC withdrawals on hiatus, LocalBitcoins is seeing new all-time trading highs – and not just in China. New Trading Highs Around The World. The knock-on effect of investors flocking to the peer-to-peer marketplace is seemingly creating unprecedented demand in markets such as Canada, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Mexico, Turkey and, of course, Venezuela. In fact, global P2P trading on LocalBitcoins has been seeing a continued upwards trend across the board. The Chinese market itself meanwhile recorded its largest ever trading volumes in the week....