When President Xi Jinping praised blockchain technology as an opportunity that China should pounce on last month, many took it as an auspicious sign for the cryptocurrency market in the world's second-largest economy.
In turn, has triggered another crackdown by local regulators, targeting exchanges, projects, media as well as blockchain and crypto-themed events - and dashing hopes for a crypto-friendly China.
From Nov. 8 to 9, more than 4,000 people attended the World Blockchain Conference in Wuzhen, China, according to the event organizer 8btc. Speakers included representatives from traditional tech firms like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, as well as those working in crypto exchanges, funds, projects and mining businesses.
On Thursday, the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau issued a similar notice, vowing to crack down on initial coin offerings and fraudulent schemes that use blockchain as a marketing gimmick without any technological substance.
A Chinese government-backed report last week even claimed that 25,000 out of the 28,000 blockchain firms based in the country issued cryptocurrencies via illegal fundraising channels.
Since Nov. 14, the firm's Weibo account has so far been only publishing posts on blockchain 101, and news coverage about blockchain applications.
Further, many of the blockchain and crypto-themed events originally scheduled in Shanghai in recent weeks had been either canceled or scaled down, according to two event organizers, who spoke under the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.
One organizer said the wave of cancelations was due to either safety reasons or venue providers declined to collaborate amid the crackdown news, even though the events were to discuss blockchain tech and crypto-economics in general.
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Crypto Market's Overreaction to Xi's Blockchain Remark Prompts Tougher Crackdown
Published on Nov 25, 2019
by Coindesk | Published on Coinage
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