Chinese provincial official expelled for violating crypto mining ban

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expels a top provincial official after investigations suggest unlawful emgagement with crypto mining activities among other abuse of power. 

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) alleged that Xiao Yi, former vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from Jiangxi province abused his state-backed administrative powers to undermine the political principle of “two maintenance,” which relates to CCP’s notion of firmly maintaining the authority of the party:

“[Xiao Yi] violated the new development concept, abused power to introduce and support enterprises to engage in virtual currency "mining" activities that do not meet the requirements of the national industrial policy.”

Xiao’s termination was directly related to his involvement in introducing and supporting enterprises to engage in virtual currency mining activities. In addition, the Chinese government found Xiao guilty of abusing his influence to allow illegal profit-making activities including raising funds for projects and construction and accepting bribes. According to a translated version of the CCDI report:

“Xiao Yi seriously violated the party's political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline, work discipline, and life discipline, and constituted a serious job violation and was suspected of taking bribes and abusing power.”

As a result, Xiao Yi was expelled from his position as a Chinese government official in addition to having his property and illegal income seized for review and prosecution.

Related: Huobi Group is moving to Gibraltar following China crackdown

The latest crypto ban in China has forced the thriving crypto community — including Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto miners and exchanges — to shift to countries with crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

In similar efforts, China’s biggest in-house crypto exchange, Huobi, has also acquired new licenses in Gibraltar. As Cointelegraph reported, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission authorized the Chinese exchange to begin moving its spot-trading operations to affiliate Huobi Technology (Gibraltar) Co. According to Jun Du, CEO of Huobi Group:

“The worldwide cryptocurrency sector is moving toward regulated growth. [...] The business must recognize the significance of aligning its activities with the trend.”