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WeChat Updates Policies to Ban Crypto and NFT-Related Accounts

source-logo  cryptoknowmics.com 21 June 2022 05:03, UTC

WeChat, China's most popular social media platform, has revised its policy to prohibit accounts from providing access to crypto or NFT-related services. Accounts involved in the issue, trading, and financing of crypto and NFTs will be restricted or prohibited under the new standards and fall under the "illegal business" category. The corporation notes that "accounts that supply services or material relevant to the secondary transaction of digital collections will likewise be handled by this rule."

"Once such breaches are identified, the WeChat public platform will depend on the severity of the violations, instruct the violating official accounts to rectify within a time limit and restrict some features of the account until the permanent account is banned," according to the new policy.

https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1538839036583784448

Chinese Government Banned Local Crypto Sector

The Chinese government implemented a phased ban on the local crypto sector between May and September last year. Given the time of the most recent WeChat policy amendment, the platform may have allowed some crypto activity to go undiscovered since then. Furthermore, because the assets can be purchased in fiat, there is still a regulatory grey area in the country regarding NFTs. Nonetheless, to prevent potential regulatory difficulties related to the financialization of technology, most organizations and platforms prohibit secondary trading. In April, the China Banking Association, the China Internet Finance Association, and the Securities Association of China issued a joint statement warning the public about the "hidden hazards" of investing in the assets. Since March, popular platforms such as WeChat and the Ant group-owned WhaleTalk have been distanced from the technology, purportedly eliminating or banning NFT services from their networks due to a lack of regulatory clarity and fear of a Beijing crackdown.

cryptoknowmics.com