China declares all cryptocurrency transactions illegal

Ten Chinese government bodies, led by the People's Bank of China, jointly published a notice declaring all cryptocurrency-related business activities illegal, including trading, order matching, token issuance, derivatives, and services offered to mainland residents by offshore exchanges. The crackdown, paired with the earlier mining ban, pushed Chinese hash rate offshore and prompted exchanges like Huobi and Binance to wind down mainland operations. It was, notably, not the first time China had banned crypto, and would not be the last time Bitcoin failed to die.