Alipay Denounces Bitcoin OTC Trading: Regulatory 'Gray Area' in China

Publicado en by Cointele | Publicado en

Even with a trading ban in place, there are whispers of a booming P2P trading arena, with authorities in Beijing seeming to adopt a "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" approach.

Alipay isn't alone in coming out to distance itself from Bitcoin OTC trading.

Is it all about the narrative?However, despite Alipay coming out to deny the use of its platform for Bitcoin OTC trading, several commentators say the practice is common in China.

To clarify, Bitcoin OTC trading is not in itself illegal in China.

Following the 2017 trading and ICO ban, reports began to emerge of growing P2P Bitcoin trading in China.

There are even reports that major crypto exchanges use these backchannel avenues to conduct P2P Bitcoin trading in China.

These exchanges reportedly mask such activities by using the guise of running a P2P trading desk for the BTC/USDT trading pair.

OTC P2P trading reportedly accounts for the overwhelming majority of Chinese BTC/CNY trading.

Allegedly, despite the trading ban, many cryptocurrency exchanges still operate and have their headquarters in mainland China.

Cointelegraph asked Utrust's Castro about the potential impact of Alipay's announcement distancing itself from Bitcoin trading on the future of crypto payments in China.

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