A new report originating from mainland China suggests major search engines in the country including Baidu and Sogou have blocked access to top crypto exchanges such as Binance, Huobi, and OKex. A search for these crypto exchanges on these platforms returns no result.

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The ban seems to be not just limited to search engines but also popular social media platforms Weibo and Zhihu. Weibo also purged at least 12 popular crypto influencer accounts that were promoting various crypto exchanges only last week.

The Weibo search page even cited new regulations as the reason behind the blockage which read,

“In accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, the search results are not displayed,”

The Chinese crackdown on crypto trading and mining started with several crypto exchanges especially those offering leverage trading, cutting their services to Chinese traders last month. The crypto trading crackdown was followed by mining restrictions in regions such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Users Claim Search Results for Crypto Exchanges Working Fine, Another FUD in Making?

China announced a heavy crackdown on crypto-centered activities last month amid a growing number of FUDs in the crypto market. Many insiders claimed the crypto crackdown this time is not just limited to warnings as state regulatory bodies issued guidelines against crypto activities.

After initial reports from popular Chinese dedicated Twitter handle about blocking of crypto exchange search terms, many users indicated that it was working fine for them and even without using a VPN they managed to get results for mentioned blocked crypto exchanges with different keywords. Many even accused these Twitter handles of spreading FUD and claimed that they are knowingly spreading misinformation. One user wrote,

Stop the FUD. pic.twitter.com/ngkoVlVO75

— ₿luefish (@bluefish_79) June 9, 2021

Later reports clarified that those who can access the crypto exchanges are using mobile browsers who might not have updated the policy or using a VPN.

About Author

Prashant Jha

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.