In Brief:Â
- Huobi Global announced that it has ceased accepting new mainland customers.
- It will suspend all China-based user accounts later this year.
Huobi Global, a Chinese cryptocurrency exchange, has said it would stop serving existing China-based users by the end of this year.
The exchange said in an announcement on Sunday that it has already suspended new registrations for mainland China, effective on Friday, shortly after the People’s Bank of China’s Friday statement that foreign exchanges are prohibited from providing services to mainland investors via the internet.
“Huobi Global will gradually retire existing Mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021, and ensure the safety of users’ assets,” the exchange said in the Sunday announcement. “We will inform users of the specific arrangements and details through official announcements, e-mails, text messages, etc.”
Huobi is the first major crypto exchange that has reacted to China’s latest crackdown order.
Huobi token has plunged by 15% within the hour after the exchange made the news public, extending the loss to more than 27% over the past 24 hours.