Huobi, OKCoin to close Bitcoin trading in China

Currently, both exchanges are halting yuan deposits, but they will continue to offer cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading services. The exchanges will undertake a “gradual” process of unwinding its yuan-denominated markets, aiming to complete that process by October 31, and according to Huobi and OKCoin, definitive information about the trading suspension will be circulated to users before September 30.

The news comes after China-based exchanges BTCC, ViaBTC and Yunbi announced that they plan to close down operations. In the wake of BTCCs closure, both Huobi and OKCoin said that they had not received any notices or instructions to close, according to CoinDesk.

Nevertheless, leaked documents indicated that verbal directives had been given to some exchanges regarding their closure, the online publication continues. Notably among those instructions was the stipulation that user data be preserved and provided to the government. Cryptocurrency prices, in turn, saw continued turmoil in the wake of those developments.