Bitcoin tumbles on report China to shutter digital currency exchanges

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Bitcoin tumbles on report China to shutter digital currency exchanges

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bitcoin fell sharply on Friday after a report from a Chinese news outlet said China was planning to shut down local crypto-currency exchanges, although analysts said this was just a temporary setback.

 

Sources close to a cross regulators committee that oversees online finance activities told Chinese financial publication Caixin that authorities plan to shut key bitcoin exchanges in China.

 

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. But two sources in direct contact with officials at three Chinese bitcoin exchanges – Beijing-based OKCoin, Shanghai-based BTC China, and Beijing-based Huobi – said the platforms told them that they have not heard anything from the Chinese government.

 

The news follows China’s move earlier this week to ban so-called “initial coin offerings,” or the practice of creating and selling digital currencies or tokens to investors in order to finance start-up projects.

 

Greg Dwyer, business development manager at crypto-currency trading platform BitMEX, said there was confusion over whether China would close bitcoin exchanges following the ICO ban.

 

Full story: http://tech.thaivisa.com/bitcoin-tumbles-report-china-shutter-digital-currency-exchanges/24153/