It appears even more changes are coming to the way Chinese bitcoin exchanges handle cryptocurrency trading. To be more specific, China’s OKCOin has announced they will halt OTC trading services come April 10th. That is quite an unusual and unexpected change, although it appears this is another change as a direct result of the recent PBoC AML requirements.
OKCoin Bids Farewell To OTC Trading
OTC trading has been a successful part of OKCoin‘s business model for quite some time over the past few years. Any buyer or speculator looking to buy or sell large quantities of bitcoin would go the OTC route, as this “special” trading method is designed to handle larger volumes. It also does not affect the overall orderbook positions. However, it appears this service will no longer be offered on an active basis.
To be more specific, OTC trading will remain a part of OKCoin until April 10th. However, all users who have an active OTC order will need to cancel said order sooner rather than later. This news leaves very little room for traders to find alternative solutions, and it is believed this news will be greeted with mixed reactions from traders all over the world. Moreover, this is another result of the recent newly introduced AML guidelines all Chinese bitcoin exchanges have to adhere to.
Any active OTC orders still on the book on April 10 will be canceled automatically and funds will be returned to the rightful owners. Spot and futures trading are not affected by this change, though, which is more than welcome news for most traders who rely on the OKCoin platform. Speaking of which, this change applies to both the China-based and international version of the OKCoin platform. Other recently introduced changes regarding halted bitcoin withdrawals only affect the Chinese version of OKCoin.
The regulatory landscape is changing in China, which results in quite some aggressive changes. First of all, various exchanges had to suspend margin trading, which is a positive development. Secondly, virtually all platforms have halted cryptocurrency withdrawals for Chinese customers, yet it does not appear to affect the bitcoin price in a negative manner. The suspension of OTC trading is expected to have little effect as well, although one never knows how markets will respond.
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