At least five Chinese cryptographic currency exchanges have suspended or decided to close operations this month in response to the perceived doubling of Beijing's anti-cryptographic stance.
The stock exchange operator Bitsoda informed the public on 23 November about its decision to close down its services; Akdex followed suit by announcing its decision to close down its operations on 24 November.
Also on 24 November, Idax referred to the Chinese government's policy as the basis for its decision to prevent domestic customers from using its services.
Similarly, referring explicitly to government policy, on 25 November Btuex disclosed that it would immediately stop providing services and reopen to foreign customers in the future.
On 4 November, Biss announced that it was "actively cooperating" in investigations into its operations and plans to resume its services as soon as possible.
Since then, it has been reported that the authorities have arrested 10 exchange suspects. While the information on the arrests remains fragmented, reports state that regulators have found Bissa's services to be in breach of Chinese capital controls.
Citing data from Chainalysis, the Bloomberg report notes that 20 of the world's 50 largest cryptographic exchanges are based in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for approximately 40% of Bitcoin transactions in the first half of 2019. In the Asia-Pacific region, chain analysis data shows that the lion's share of information exchange takes place in China.
Beijing's reaffirmation of its firm stance has been interpreted as an attempt to prevent what it sees as speculative abuses of cryptographic products, which it allegedly fears may increase after President Xi Jinping gave public support to the blockade in October. Since then, the state media have warned the public to remain "rational".
