China's Bitcoin exchanges begin pulling down the shutters
The Chinese central bank's Bitcoin crackdown, first signalled in December 2013, is coming to fruition as the middle kingdom's Bitcoin exchanges begin halting withdrawals.
The FXBTC exchange has posted a notice saying that it received the instruction by telephone as part of the central bank's “Bitcoin risk prevention work”, adding that commercial banks and third-party payment institutions have been told they “may not provide clearing services of Bitcoin businesses.”
FXBTC's notice, here (in Chinese), says it decided as of April 3 to “no longer deal with bank recharge after Sunday, [and] suspend bank card withdrawals”.
Exchange BTC38 has reported similar instructions here (also in Chinese), and has decided to suspend third-party payment and bank card recharges. The exchange reassures users that it has assets greater than its customers' Bitcoin reserve: the suspension, it says, won't risk the loss of users' funds.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) began its crackdown last December and followed that up with specific orders at the end of March.
