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Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said that mainland Chinese users can use a virtual private network to trade crypto on the platform, though it will not support yuan trading any time soon.
According to a report by South China Morning Post, co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou announced in a media briefing on Dec. 3 that the platform has no intentions of accepting China’s local currency. Though, he said Chinese citizens can access the platform to trade overseas or through VPN.
“What the Chinese government dislikes the most about crypto is that it can facilitate capital outflow. So we won’t touch this red line,” said Zhou.
Since June this year, Bybit allowed Chinese citizens to register on the platform with mainland China identity documents, including national IDs and passports. Though, Bybit still blocks Chinese IP addresses.
At the time, the move was made in order to attract Chinese citizens who live overseas. Though now, Zhou said that people currently living in China can bypass the government’s ban on crypto by connecting to a VPN and using an IP address from a different region.
Though, Zhou noted that the crypto exchange has not seen that many users coming in from mainland China. At the media briefing, it was revealed that Bybit saw 40 million new users joining the platform this year, boosting its user count to almost 60 million. The number went up nearly 300% compared to last year’s total registered users which was 20 million.
In addition, Zhou also stated that the firm plans to reapply for a Hong Kong license in the first quarter of next year. Bybit previously applied for a Hong Kong license in January this year, but withdrew it in May.
The Chinese government allowed Hong Kong to grow its crypto industry, but has maintained a ban on crypto trading in its mainland region since 2021. Though, the ban has not stopped Chinese traders from engaging in crypto trading activities in spite of the ban.
According to data from Chainalysis, from July 2023 until June 2024, the Chinese cryptocurrency market has processed nearly $50 billion in crypto transaction volume.