Chinese police have arrested over 1,100 people suspected of using cryptocurrencies to launder money from telephone and Internet scams. Reuters news agency reports, citing China’s Ministry of Public Security.
The arrests were due to the strengthening of measures to combat cryptocurrency trading. Last month, three industry bodies banned cryptocurrency-related financial and payment services, and the State Council vowed to restrict bitcoin trading.
Chinese authorities said police had arrested more than 170 criminal groups involved in the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering.
The launderers charged their clients a commission of 1.5% to 5% for converting illegal proceeds into virtual currencies via crypto exchanges, without outlining the amount of money involved.
China’s Bitcoin mines power nearly 80 per cent of the global trade in cryptocurrencies. At the same time, cryptocurrency trading in China has been banned since 2019.
