Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will shut down its marketplace for yuan trading at the end of 2021 in response to China’s recent crypto crackdown.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, and also has a large number of Chinese customers. It said in a statement on Wednesday that it will delist the Chinese yuan from its peer-to-peer trading platform on December 31, 2021.
Binance said the termination is a response to the “regulatory requirements” of the Chinese government.
Furthermore, the exchange will run an inventory check of its users, and limit access for those in mainland China to cashing out, so that they can close their positions and extract their assets. Binance said it will notify these users by email before their accounts are shut down.
Similarly, a long list of exchanges, wallets, and other crypto service providers have retired or will close the accounts of their China-based users, in response to an announcement last month by the country’s top financial regulators, which criminalized crypto transactions and mining activities.
Binance’s largest rival in China, Huobi Global, announced that it is gradually shutting down the accounts of its mainland Chinese users and will complete the process by the end of this year.