Binance Accused by Chinese State Media of Operating Cryptocurrency Exchange in China

Chinese state media has reported that Binance is still supporting local users trading cryptocurrency, despite China banning all exchanges in 2017.

According to a report by Chinese state media CCTV, a journalist in Beijing was able to create an account on Binance’s Chinese platform (binancezh.com) and immediately have access to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trade.

The journalist reports that they were able to easily register for an “individual” account on the website, upload all their identity documents and complete the facial recognition verification via Binance’s mobile app, with no difficulty.

The report states that the journalist then went on to purchase some Bitcoin on Binance’s peer-to-peer (P2P) platform without any issue, exchanging fiat currency with a counterparty. They then received an official notification from Binance that the transaction was completed.

Binance responded to CCTV and claims that its app cannot currently be downloaded in China and its website is inaccessible. A Binance spokesman also said that binancezh.com is just a test site and is mainly accessed by users from Egypt.

China and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

In 2017, China officially banned all cryptocurrency exchange activities within its borders. The ban, which was announced in September 2017 made it illegal for Chinese mainlanders to exchange digital money unless they operated offshore.

Which is precisely where they went. Huobi stopped all bitcoin trading in mainland China and have moved to Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea – they now operate globally. Shanghai-based BTCC also stopped trading and Binance moved Taiwan.

However, Chinese citizens can still buy crypto via peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms or over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks,. Last October, Binance also launched its P2P platform in China, enabling users to buy crypto via Alipay and WeChat. Alipay, however, later that said it doesn't support crypto transactions.

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