China has ordered banks to launch an anti-crypto campaign

China’s largest bank has warned several major state-owned banks and Jack Ma’s Alipay to “investigate and identify” bank accounts that support cryptocurrency trading and ban all related activities, in Beijing recently against Bitcoin.

The central bank on Monday said it had summoned the China Agricultural Bank, China Construction Bank, and ICBC, as well as other payment methods such as Alipay, to discuss the problem of “providing cryptocurrency services”.

The regulator called on financial institutions to recognize and prohibit all transfers to accounts held by cryptocurrency exchanges and other online traders and to use the expertise to resolve any issues linked to the “cryptocurrency concept”.

The law is part of a recent crackdown on Chinese governments on the economy that began in May, as Beijing seeks to curb trade and close the world’s largest crypto-mining operation, which is bordering it. Instead, the central bank wants citizens to use its digital currency, which has begun to test major pilots.

While Chinese authorities have taken steps to prevent banks from monitoring Bitcoin activity since 2013, and have made several mistakes since then, they have not been able to completely eliminate cryptocurrency trading. Investors in the industry said one way Chinese can maintain Bitcoin is through their partners.

Leo Weese, co-founder of the Hong Kong Bitcoin Association, says that in order to comply with the law, government officials and banks may be able to gradually acquire and cut bank accounts for which business partners receive cash.

“Bitcoin trading in China will continue, but it will be less watery, and the spread will increase,” said Weese. “People just trade with their friends and acquaintances.”

The People’s Bank of China said the sale of cryptocurrency currencies disrupts the financial system, poses a risk of illegal border crossings and financial losses and “severely violates the security of the public economy”.

As part of its strict rules, China has significantly reduced the number of citizens able to transfer money to the country and has also seen Bitcoin strongly since the cryptocurrency became popular almost a decade ago.

Since last month, China has also stepped up its efforts to crack down on the country’s hungry Bitcoin mines, with about 75% of global events taking place, according to initial estimates.

Sichuan, the largest power plant in southwestern China, was the most recent section summoning 26 of the country’s largest mines to cease operations last week. It followed a ban by local governments leading the cryptocurrency mining sites Xinjiang, Yunnan and Qinghai.

The northern part of Inner Mongolia though setting up a hotline for citizens to whistle at neighbors who are suspected of being cryptocurrency miners.