Chinese Bitcoin Exchanges Face Stricter Regulation and Licensure

Over the past week, bitcoiners everywhere have been focused on the speculative news of China ‘banning’ bitcoin and wondering if the stories were true. According to recent reports from local media and the country’s National Internet Finance Association (NIFA), bitcoin is not ‘illegal,’ but exchanges may face tighter regulatory supervision and might have to cease operations temporarily until they are licensed.

Last week new.Bitcoin.com reported on rumors of China banning bitcoin, while cryptocurrency markets tumbled due to the negative news. Many reports from mainstream media detailed that the digital currency was deemed ‘illegal’ in China, even though there was no confirmation of this from regulatory officials. Bitcoin proponents also saw tweets from Litecoin creator, Charlie Lee, stating that China “finally banned bitcoin exchanges,” but the tweet was later deleted.