The People's Bank of China (PBoC), China's central bank, has its eyes on cryptocurrency companies that run airdrop campaigns in the country.In its most recent financial stability report for 2018, which was published on Friday, November 3, 2018, the bank said there has been a surge in the number of "disguised" Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), including the free distribution of crypto tokens through airdrops, despite its effort to clamp down on their activities. Based on the report, the bank states that the companies running token giveaways are evading China’s blanket ban on ICOs by issuing free tokens to the investor, while keeping a large chunk of the total supply for speculation on a crypto exchange, where speculation would drive the prices up so they can profit.Last year, the central bank banned ICOs, calling them "illegal fundraising" that were targeting innocent investors. According to the PBoC report, before the ban took effect, 65 ICOs had been completed up until July 18, 2017, while only five were launched before 2017. This sudden jump also attracted over 105,000 investors who contributed a total of about 2.6 billion yuan ($377.3 million), a figure, the PBoC states, accounted for 20 percent of the total ICO funding raised globally by blockchain startups.The central bank also made its concerns known about crypto firms who had moved their operations overseas but were using local agents to invest on be...
