China freezes thousands of cryptocurrency traders’ bank accounts. The Chinese authority in China has frozen the bank accounts of thousands of cryptocurrency traders. This comes as a result of an extensive crackdown on illicit activities.
The police in Guangdong have been freezing bank accounts of over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency buyers and sellers in the country. About 4,000 bank accounts have been frozen since June 4 as they are suspected in being involved in illicit activities, including money laundering.
Chinese Police have been increasing their efforts to crack down telecom fraud, gambling and cryptocurrency scams. All of which would result in them freezing bank accounts. Dormant trading accounts have also been frozen. However, if the authority finds no evidence of illicit activities and wrongdoings, the bank accounts will be unfrozen.
The authorities have also claimed that tether has been used frequently in illicit activities. There was a recent money laundering case that went bust. According to a local police in Guangzhou, the scammers created a fake Huobi website to defraud investors and transfer illegally obtained money to an overseas bank account.
Additionally, the People’s Bank of China have also been increasing efforts to crack down money laundering. Many crypto start ups have come under investigation by the local police and financial bureaus. Citizens have been resorting to peer-to-peer OTC trading to exchange between cryptocurrencies and yuan. This came since the PCOB closed down crypto exchanges in September 2017.
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