China escalates its crackdown on cryptocurrencies

The Chinese government's latest plans to crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry suggest that they hope to completely eradicate the practice within the country's borders.
Despite China’s previous crippling crackdowns aimed at the cryptocurrency industry, the Chinese government is still determined to introduce even more restrictive measures within the country's borders. According to Bloomberg, the government has now targeted all online cryptocurrency service providers which offer cryptocurrency trading and managing solutions.

An unnamed source relayed information to Bloomberg indicating that the Chinese government intends to make all international cryptocurrency-related apps, services, and platforms inaccessible within the Chinese borders. In addition, Chinese authorities intend to pursue any firm, or individuals, who attempt to create platforms to facilitate any service related to centralized cryptocurrency trading. However, Chinese officials might choose not to pursue instances of small peer-to-peer transactions.

Previously, reports and rumors circulated suggesting that the Chinese government was exploring the best course of action in order to completely eradicate the cryptocurrency industry within the country. Despite the government’s previous blanket ban in September 2017, the cryptocurrency industry still seems to be thriving within the Chinese borders. An official report has been recently leaked, confirming that governmental agencies issued an order to local municipalities all over China to limit the electrical power allocated for mining operations. Furthermore, municipalities were ordered to limit other aspects related to cryptocurrency mining, such as environmental and tax protections, as well as land use. This was likely an attempt to pressure cryptocurrency mining operations to take their business elsewhere.

So far, no single Chinese government official has yet confirmed, or denied, the outstanding number of circulating rumors and reports. Nonetheless, the latest crackdown has urged several huge Chinese mining farms to start relocating their operations. Several miners are reportedly considering making Quebec, Canada their new home. While some miners are relocating, others are simply shutting down. One of China's biggest bitcoin mining pools, ViaBTC, has recently stopped operating. However, it is still unclear if this was due to the increasingly restrictive regulations and subsequent crackdown.

Regulating agencies and government bodies are issuing strong warnings against the cryptocurrency industry. For example, the National Internet Finance Association of China has recently issued a warning which specifically addresses the dangers involved in initial mining offerings. The self-regulatory organization, which is specifically tailored to online finance, suggested that potential investors be very cautious when it comes to this novel fundraising technique.

China has waged a war against the cryptocurrency industry since September 2017, when they first banned initial coin offerings (ICOs). Nevertheless, this was only the beginning of the end. Shortly after their ICO ban, the government targeted all cryptocurrency exchange platforms operating within the country. This crackdown essentially caused some of the world’s biggest exchange platforms to shut down. China’s crackdown also had a profound effect on markets all over the world, as it was an industry leader at the time. Prices plummeted shortly after the crackdown, but have since stabilized and continued to reach record-breaking highs.

Ever since China's crackdown on the cryptocurrency market became evident, Japan and South Korea stepped up to fill the void. While Japan has adopted a very pro-cryptocurrency attitude, the official position of South Korea is still somewhat ambiguous.