Chinese regulators look to block 124 foreign crypto exchanges amid wider crackdown

Chinese financial regulators are continuing with their crackdown on crypto businesses in the country and are now targeting foreign cryptocurrency exchanges offering trading services in China.

Referring to a report from Shanghai Securities Times, CoinDesk reported that the China National Fintech Risk Rectification Office, a government agency tackling financial risks in areas such as p2p lending and cryptocurrency trading, has identified 124 trading platforms with overseas IP addresses and is looking to block these platforms.

The People’s Bank of China banned initial coin offering (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading in the country last September. Thereafter, domestic cryptocurrency exchanges have moved their businesses to other countries.

Recently, WeChat reportedly blocked a number of crypto and blockchain related media accounts after some public accounts were suspected of publishing Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and crypto trading hype information.

According to the latest report, the agency will permanently shut down domestic websites and official accounts on the WeChat platform if found to be offering cryptocurrency trading and ICO services. It is reportedly in talks with third-party payments vendors that are required to inspect and stop accounts suspicious of handling cryptocurrency transactions.