Chinas Bitcoin Exchanges Pull Out of Summit After PBOC

Several of Chinas largest bitcoin exchanges pulled out of a global conference in Beijing this weekend after the central bank signaled further curbs on speculative trading of the virtual currency.

BTC China Co. said it and four other bitcoin trading platforms agreed to adopt stricter practices such as halting margin trading and short selling. They also agreed to not participate in bitcoin marketing conferences and gatherings, according to a statement posted today on the website of BTC China, the oldest of the nations bitcoin operators.

BTC China, OKCoin and Huobi.com will no longer attend the Global Bitcoin Summit on May 10 as planned, BTC China Chief Executive Officer Bobby Lee said by phone today. Speakers from the exchanges who were to appear at the conference were taken off an updated schedule sent to media today by organizers.

We got together with a few exchanges and decided to coordinate some efforts in light of the perceived clampdown of the central bank, Lee said. Weve decided to stay more low-key and skip out of the conference this weekend.

The Peoples Bank of China began a crackdown on bitcoin in December, barring financial institutions and payment companies from dealing in the crypto-currency amid concern it could be used to launder money or skirt capital controls. Since then, the nations banks have closed the accounts of online trading platforms used to transfer money to bitcoin trading accounts.

A spokesman for the PBOCs media relations department declined to comment today.

Bitcoin prices were volatile today, falling as low as 2,590.02 yuan on BTC China after the exchange operator said it would stop accepting bank transfers of funds to customer trading accounts. They later rebounded to as high as 2,720 yuan.

Prices plunged almost 10 percent on March 27 after Caixin reported that PBOC ordered banks and payment companies to close accounts used to transfer money to bitcoin trading accounts at the exchanges. Bank of China Ltd. announced on its website on April 30 that it was banning the use of its bank accounts to charge trading accounts.

Chinese exchange users have decreased as increasingly strict policies cause concern, Leon Li, founder of Beijing-based trading platform Huobi.com, said in an April 26 interview.

About 600 people will probably take part in Chinas first international bitcoin conference, according to Hitters Xu, one of the organizers. About 15 percent of the attendees will be foreign nationals, he said.

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Chinas Bitcoin Exchanges Pull Out of Summit After PBOC