China Shuts Down BISS Cryptocurrency Exchange, Employees Arrested

Cryptocurrency exchange BISS has been shut down by Chinese authorities and 10 people alleged to have been involved in running it were arrested. The date on which the raid took place is unclear, even though Chinese media outlet Sohu reported what happened during the raid.

On the same day, Dovey Wan, founding partner of blockchain focused investment firm Primitive Ventures, tweeted that the Chinese crypto community was aware of the raid for two weeks.

However, the news was reported almost a fortnight later. Wan also asserted that the Beijing headquartered crypto exchange is growing in popularity:

“It’s a relatively known up-and-rising exchange.”

On November 18, through a blog post, the exchange had informed about user withdrawal problems. The exchange also mentioned that the operations have been halted by Chinese authorities.

“According to market sources, it is understood that BISS’ operations have been halted following an enquiry by China’s regulatory authorities around its services offered to users, which may not be aligned with capital controls regulations in China.”

The company asserted that the authorities are now handling the matter in order to safeguard investors’ interests. Finally, the exchange has pointed out that it is fully cooperating with the Chinese law enforcement agencies. It can be remembered that Shenzhen authorities have listed 39 crypto exchanges which continue to defy the blanket ban announced by Beijing.

In this regard, the administrators of tech capital of China had issued a warning against crypto trading and running a cryptocurrency exchange, which are deemed illegal.