According to a recent tweet by WuBlockchain, Bybit has taken China off of its list of restricted countries, thereby enabling Chinese users to use the platform despite China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and trading.
It was revealed that Bybit had started registering and conducting know-your-customer (KYC) verification for Chinese users. This meant that Chinese traders could submit their identification papers like passports and driving licenses to confirm their accounts.
As of June 5th, Bybit’s Terms of Service no longer mention China among the restricted jurisdictions which include the U.S.A, UK, Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong. However, the company has not officially released any statement on this or confirmed whether it acquired any licenses to run within China.
However, this move has raised some concerns in the crypto space. Some are of the view that Bybit’s entry into China could lead to an influx of users from this region which still does a significant amount of business in cryptocurrencies despite being banned.
In the last 24 hours, Bybit has traded a total worth of $4 billion, which makes it the second-biggest crypto exchange by trading volume. There are over $7 billion of assets held by customers according to Nansen.
Since 2013, China’s strict anti-crypto stance has led to banning crypto transactions and then mining in 2021. This has forced major exchanges like Binance and Huobi to cease serving Chinese customers.
Also Read: Crypto Trading Remains Active in China Despite Ban
Despite this, recent reports indicate that Chinese crypto traders have found other avenues to participate in the market. According to Chainalysis, China was ranked third among Asian countries for crypto activities in 2022-2023.
