Agriculture Bank of China Suspends Crypto-Related Transactions and Activities

Agriculture Bank of China, the third-largest banking institution of the Asia economic giant, has suspended crypto transactions and related activities. The banking giant released a statement earlier today and asked all its customers to refrain from such activities.

The statement from the bank reads:

“Once relevant behaviors are discovered, account transactions will be immediately suspended, customer relationships will be terminated, and relevant departments will be reported”.

While in the past, banking institutions have released such statements, popular Chinese journalist Colin Wu points out the notable differences in the ban this time. This time, the statement released from the Agriculture Bank of China clearly shows the requirements of the central bank PBoC. Additionally, it requires investigation into the past behavior and it also asks the banks to report irregularities as and when it is found.

Other Chinese Banks Will Soon Follow With Similar Ban

As per Colin Wu, other banks will soon follow the cue and initiate similar measures in the coming days. The Agriculture Bank of China accidentally released the document that mentions that other banks will soon introduce a crypto transaction ban following the order from the PBoC. However, it was deleted immediately.

A former banking official of the Chinese banking system noted that the PBoC was to issue this statement tonight. However, the banking official also believes that the policies of the central bank won’t be too strict. But looking at the recent crackdown by Chinese authorities, it’s better not to be optimistic.

Chinese regulators are taking every possible measure to plug crypto-related activities in the country. apart from just traders, this crackdown has far-reaching consequences even to the Chinese mining community. A number of miners have been fleeing the country to set up a base for mining operations at other crypto-friendly locations. Last Saturday’s crackdown on the Sichuan region resulted in the severe crash of the BTC hashrate for the top Chinese mining pools.