A Chinese news outlet Caixin said China’s regulatory body was planning to shut down local crypto-currency exchanges, Bloomberg reports.
According to a report from business media Caixin, sources close to China's internet financial risk rectification work group, have said the decision has not only been reached, but delivered and deployed to local authorities.
In particular, the report is saying that Chinese citizens won’t be able to use exchanges to buy bitcoins, ethers and more using Chinese yuan.
Bitcoin (Bitcoin) and ether have plunged on the back of the report. Ethereum (ETH/USD) was down 12%, falling from $329 to $289 as news broke.
Bitcoin was down 9% on the news, falling from $4,650 to $4,224.
Earlier Beijing Operation Management Department of the People’s Bank of China issued a notice to financial institutions prohibiting the provision of financial services to ICOs.
The notice states that “financial institutions and non-bank payment agencies shall not provide service or product like account opening, registration, trading, clearing and settlement for token financing and virtual currency”.
On Monday, September 4, China’s central bank the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) proclaimed initial coin offerings (ICOs) illegal and demanded all related fundraising activity to be halted immediately.
The cryptocurrency market lost close to USD 36 billion in value since that decision of the Chinese authorities and stands at approximately USD 142 billion.