WeChat Bans Commerce with Cryptocurrencies on its Platform

Initial Currency Offers (ICO) has also been banned within the application. WeChat is very popular in China for making over-the-counter currency transactions so dealers will be seriously affected by this measure

The board of executives of WeChat, which is the most popular multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment application in China, has decided to prohibit formally all activities that involve purchasing and selling cryptocurrencies on its platform. This week the platform updated the current payment policies for traders and in one of those modifications they prohibit trading in cryptocurrencies, issuing tokens and raising funds, according to screen captures of the co-founder of Primitive Ventures, Dovey Wan. In other words, the new norm does not allow performing any operations that involve the purchase or sale of crypto assets or Initial Currency Offers (ICO).

All users that violate this measure will have their accounts within the application canceled, says Dovey Wan on his Twitter account. He emphasizes that this measure could have a tremendous impact on the over-the-counter (OTC) crypto asset market that is currently operating in China, which could reduce liquidity in the region.

WeChat and Alipay are two of the most popular platforms for making peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions in the Chinese territory. As it is widely known, this is one of the countries with the strictest rules and regulations concerning the market of crypto assets, which have affected more than 88 cryptocurrency Exchange houses throughout the region.

According to what was reported last year, these applications are used by both entrepreneurs within the ecosystem and common citizens in order to publish content that is related to the market, make exclusive advertisements and trade without the need of intermediaries (P2P transactions). The said activities could be seriously affected by these explicit regulations that ban cryptocurrency commerce on WeChat’s platform.

The CEO of Binace, Changpeng Zhao, classified the news about WeChat’s ban as being “a short-term pain but a long-term gain”. He said that the platform may have been under the government pressure at the moment of deciding to introduce those regulations. This suggests that the new restrictions could create an opening for crypto companies to benefit from WeChat’s business.

The entrepreneur emphasized that although the P2P cryptocurrency market in China will be affected during these first three months, he considers that this type of censorship and authoritarian measures will only motivate more people to continue believing in cryptocurrencies and bet on their success.

The economic autonomy and the freedom to choose are two of the principles that cryptocurrencies offer their users. In this sense, some members within the community consider that the value of these technologies lies in their possibility of social impact, which would allow reducing the centralization of power and, consequently, avoiding economic blockages.

Since last year WeChat had already shown signs of a possible measure against the trade in cryptocurrency on its platform. The representatives of this application blocked the Bitmain accounts for promoting their products in a private group, and they also closed those entrepreneurial accounts that were dealing with Initial Currency Offers on the platform.

By Willmen Blanco