The People’s Bank of China’s Shenzhen Center Branch, the Chinese Central Bank, has announced the closure of 11 companies suspected of engaging in virtual currency trading. The central bank’s Shenzhen province issued a notification requiring the 11 companies involved to rectify and clean up their acts.

The Shenzhen branch of the Central Bank of China recently launched a special crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency trading activities and shut down 11 companies suspected of conducting illegal virtual currency activities.

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 17, 2021

According to local reports, the Chinese Central Bank’s Shenzhen branch had compiled a list of 46 companies suspected of engaging in illegal virtual currency trading by the end of July. The special task force of the Shenzhen branch was formed to identify and correct companies found to be involved in illegal virtual currency trade. The branch has completed the correction of a well-known domestic financial website that engaged in illegal foreign exchange deposit trading. According to the official notification,

“Perform special rectification of illegal virtual currency trading activities, as well as promptly clean up and rectify 11 newly emerging companies suspected of engaging in illegal virtual currency activities.” Completed the rectification of a well-known domestic financial website suspected of propagating foreign exchange deposit trading violations, and handled 8 reports of illegal and criminal activities related to online foreign exchange and cross-border stock trading.”

In a recent conference, the Chinese Central Bank stated that it would continue its crackdown on digital assets in the second half of the year.

China will continue its anti-cryptocurrency crackdown.

In May, China implemented strict crypto crackdown policies, beginning with the abolition of Bitcoin mining. At the time, China accounted for more than 60% of Bitcoin mining hash power because the majority of mining farms were based in the country. The Central Bank cited environmental concerns as the reason for the crackdown, citing carbon emission targets. The authorities expanded their crypto crackdown on digital asset trading and began banning companies that were found to be involved.

China’s crackdown is nothing new, and no bull market would be complete without one. In 2017, the country outlawed all crypto exchanges, and in 2013, it outlawed the use of cryptocurrencies entirely. The Chinese crackdown is frequently followed by the second leg of the bull run, which has historically been more significant than the first.