China Monitors Booming OTC Bitcoin Market After Shutting Down Exchanges

After shutting down the country’s bitcoin exchanges, the Chinese government is monitoring the booming cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) market. A recent government report shows that 680 million yuan, approximately $103 million, were traded in the last two weeks of October on the top three international OTC trading platforms.
Chinese Government’s Analysis of Bitcoin OTC Trading

Ever since the Chinese government demanded in September that bitcoin exchanges in the country shut down, China’s on-exchange bitcoin trading volume has all but disappeared. Concurrently, yuan trading volumes on OTC platforms have significantly increased.
The National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security Technology published a report last week on the status of the Chinese OTC bitcoin market. The committee was formally established in August of last year under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The committee “monitored recent bitcoin off-balance-sheet transactions through the National Internet Financial Risk Analysis Technology Platform” settled in CNY to produce the report.
There are two types of cryptocurrency trading – intraday and OTC, the report began. “OTC usually has no fixed place, prescribed membership, and strict rules and regulations; mainly the one-on-one transactions are conducted by the counterparties through private negotiations.”

In addition to P2P trading such as on Localbitcoins, Chinese citizens also conducted transactions in-person or using live chat tools such as QQ, Wechat, Telegram, and Slack. “A wide range of payment methods, including bank transfer, cash remittance, third-party payment, [and] gift cards” were used, the report stated, adding that:

Alipay, Wechat and bank transfer are the main payment methods for OTC BTC-CNY transactions.