China’s central bank has made all cryptocurrency transactions illegal in mainland China, the bank announced in a statement on Friday. Chinese officials said in June that more than 1,000 people had been arrested after purchasing cryptocurrencies with profits from criminal activities. China bans all virtual encrypted currency assetsAdditionally, overseas exchanges will be barred from serving mainland investors and financial institutions, and payment processing firms and internet companies facilitating cryptocurrency trades will be blocked by the Chinese government. Firms will also be prohibited from using a variety of terms for cryptocurrency in their names and in the scope of their business activities. The list of banned terms and areas for businesses includes “virtual currency,” “virtual assets,” encrypted currencies” and “encrypted assets.”
