Alibaba to ban crypto miner sales amid Chinese crackdown
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is the next company to wrap up its cryptocurrency-related services in response to the ongoing crypto crackdown in China.
Alibaba officially announced Monday that its platform will prohibit sales of cryptocurrency miners and suspend categories for blockchain miners and accessories from its website on Oct. 8.
In addition to stopping sales of crypto mining devices, Alibaba will impose a ban on using its platforms to sell major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), as well as smaller coins like Quark (QRK).
The new restrictions involve but are not limited to crypto mining-related hardware and software, as well as relevant tutorials, guides and strategies, the announcement noted.
Any sellers that continue listing crypto miners or relevant products on Alibaba’s platforms after Oct. 15 will face penalties under applicable rules, the firm warned in a detailed description of new restrictions. Some of the listed penalties include blocking stores, freezing and closing merchant accounts for maliciously evading the new rules like intentionally placing relevant products into other categories, Alibaba said.
The firm noted that the latest policy changes come in response to compliance issues in listing products and handling transactions.
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“Members have responsibility for complying with relevant laws and regulations applicable to any country of sale. We will keep track of policy changes in each country and adjust our control policies accordingly,” the company stated. Alibaba did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Alibaba’s move came soon after the Chinese government had announced a set of new measures to combat the crypto adoption, declaring all crypto-related transactions illegal in the country on Friday. In response to a renewed crypto crackdown, major crypto exchanges such as Binance and Huobi subsequently halted some services in mainland China, while Sparkpool, the second-largest Ethereum mining pool in the world, announced a total shutdown of operations.