China is pointing its regulatory bazooka at a lucrative and sprawling part of the digital asset market: crypto exchanges that set up shop abroad to dodge local regulations.
In the latest of a series of crypto crackdowns, the country’s central bank said on Friday that overseas facilities offering services inside China are “illegal”. It warned that any local staff who help these businesses operate, or even provide marketing and technical support, “shall be investigated”.
It marked one of the most direct crackdowns by a major regulator against “offshore” exchanges that have proliferated as interest among traders has boomed in recent years.