Bitcoin exchange BTCC brings Chinese trade to closure

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On its website, the BTCC now states that all local trading in yuan and cryptocurrencies has been officially suspended as of midday on September 30 in Beijing. The exchange stopped accepting deposits on September 27, and Chinese users being advised to withdraw their funds from the exchange before the end of October.

On the twitter accompanying the closure, BTCC claims to have had the longest known life expectancy for exchanging cryptocurrencies, having worked for a "world record" of 2,305 days.

The closure of the exchange's China-facing trading operations occurs after the announcement from financial regulators on September 4, which banned developers and entrepreneurs from launching token sales (or ICOs) inside the country. Since then, the exchanges in the country have "voluntarily" decided to stop trading, although regulatory pressure is widely believed to have been the catalyst.

BTCC will continue to manage trade services outside of China, and has also confirmed that its mining pool will continue to function normally. Other major cryptocurrency exchanges in the country – including Yunbi, Huobi and OKCoin – are expected to cease trading by the end of October.