CHINA'S CENTRALIZED VIRTUAL CURRENCY TRADE

BEIJING : PBOC official says China Virtual Currency Trade needs to end.

A senior Chinese central banker says authorities should ban centralized trading of virtual currencies   as well as individuals and businesses that provide related services-

An internal memo from a government meeting seen by Reuters showed.

In the memo outlining the details of discussions at a meeting of Internet Regulators and other policy makers last week, PBOC Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng said-

The government would continue to apply pressure to virtual currencies trade and prevent the build of risks in that market.

National and Local authorities should ban venues that provide centralized trading of the currencies, of which bitcoin is the biggest, Pan said.

They also need to ban individuals or institutions that provide market-making-activities, guarantees, or settlement services for centralized trading of the currencies, such as online ''wallet' service providers.

Chinese regulators last year banned initial coin offerings, shut down local cryptocurrency trading exchanges and limited bitcoin mining -but activity in the cryptocurrency and bitcoin space  has continued through alternative channels in China despite the crackdown.

Agencies.