China: several social accounts promoting crypto trading have been closed

The body that regulates internet censorship in China, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has closed more than a dozen social media accounts that were promoting crypto trading by spreading false information about the capital market and providing illegal recommendations.

This is reported on baidu by the CCTV News account.

China: the closure of accounts that promoted crypto trading

The Cyberspace Administration of China has enforced the closure of a series of accounts and websites that were spreading false information about the capital market and illegal recommendations. The accounts also speculated on crypto transactions

The initiative was taken in agreement with the financial management departments of the government

In particular, the article mentions four types of account

The first was publishing false information about the capital market, such as fake institutional agreements related to the transfer, financing, and lending of securities, or false rumors about the regulatory policies of quantitative funds

In this case, the accounts were closed to prevent them from continuing to publish false information

The second type, on the other hand, concerned accounts that provided illegal recommendations regarding investments. These accounts induced investors to pay to join groups and follow the purchase of individual stocks, with forecasts on trends and promises that the purchases would lead to guaranteed profits. This practice is prohibited in China, as well as in other countries where only legally recognized financial advisors are authorized to carry out this type of activity

The third type of closed accounts specifically concerned the crypto markets. These were accounts that prompted users to engage in crypto transactions by posting information and screenshots of earnings in group chats. In China, crypto trading is prohibited, but websites have been discovered that provided applications or indirect trading services on foreign platforms

The last type of account was closed because they were promoting things like debt optimization, negotiated repayment, and full refunds. In reality, they had simply invented success stories to induce and instigate investors to resort to illegal and irregular means

Censorship in China

In China, a form of censorship on content published online still exists

For example, CCTV News also reports that the Internet Information Office has urged Chinese Internet users to refrain from creating, spreading, or believing rumors, as well as to stay away from illegal financial activities and be cautious of the loss of personal property or the leakage of information

Furthermore, they also invited to adopt correct investment concepts, increase awareness in risk prevention, and strengthen the identification of financial information

CCTV News adds:

“At the same time, the Internet Information Office will continue to exert strong repressive pressure and will invite the majority of internet users to actively report signs of problems”.

China and the ban on crypto trading

In China, crypto trading has been banned since 2021

This results not only in the total absence of crypto exchanges in China, but also in the crackdown on the promotion of trading crypto.

However, this has never really prevented the Chinese from trading crypto, because they often manage to access the cryptocurrency markets by taking advantage of accommodating foreign platforms.

Technically, it is not prohibited in China to own cryptocurrencies, but it is prohibited to use them as a means of payment or to trade them freely on the market

In other terms, crypto in China are still effectively banned, even if not completely, but something is changing

For example, this news about the closure of many accounts does not specifically concern crypto trading, but the promises of earnings, and unauthorized access to foreign exchanges

It should be remembered that in Hong Kong, which is in all respects part of China even though it is a special territory with its own laws, crypto ETFs can be legally traded on the stock exchange

By now it seems that the Asian giant is more correctly focused on fighting frauds, rather than fighting crypto trading itself

The same market regulatory authority has warned investors to invest wisely, being cautious of risks and illegal financial activities, but it has not explicitly advised against investing in cryptocurrencies

On the other hand, by now the attempts at fraud are so many that this must be the priority. It is imaginable that it is particularly complicated to also go after those who simply engage in normal buying and selling of cryptocurrencies

Among those who promote foreign platforms to do the same crypto trading even in China, there are several who promote fraudulent platforms, and it seems that the action of the regulatory authority has been directed mainly against the latter