Huobi allegedly directs Chinese users to apply for Dominican digital citizenship. The post Huobi Plans to Bypass China’s Crypto Ban in a Novel Way: Report appeared first on Tokenist.
China’s Stance on Crypto
Anyone working for a Chinese tech firm associated with crypto can even face jail time. It is also illegal for residents to send crypto and for businesses and banks to accept coins.
Justin Sun Aims to Sidestep China Ban
According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, Huobi boss Justin Sun has a new plan to bypass the China ban. The move comes as the exchange is seeking to attract Chinese users once again and boost revenue by tapping the country’s huge market for digital assets.
At the time, the island nation said that holders of its digital identity can open a bank or financial account, apply for loans, register companies that provide digital services, claim digital currency airdrops, and use it for Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
Sun plans to use the nation’s digital identity for KYC verification in this case. According to the WSJ report, new Huobi users who choose Chinese as their nationality while verifying their details will be prompted to apply for Dominican digital citizenship and use it for KYC purposes.
“People familiar with the program said Chinese users will be able to trade on Huobi’s platform if they register for Dominican digital citizenship,” the report said, sharing a screenshot that directs Chinese users to apply for Dominican digital citizenship.
A Huobi spokesperson said the company “uses KYC verification to prevent China users from doing such things.” However, two Chinese nationals in the country said they had used the Dominican digital identity to trade on the platform.
Ben Charoenwong, an assistant professor in finance at the National University of Singapore, also claimed that the Dominican digital citizenship program could help Chinese nationals bypass restrictions and trade cryptocurrencies. “It’s easier when you don’t show up as a Chinese citizen; you’re out of the Chinese financial system,” he said.
Binance Accused of Allowing Chinese Users to Trade on its Platform
The report claimed that Binance employees or Binance-trained volunteers known as “Angels” shared techniques with users that can be used to evade Binance’s KYC, residency, and verification systems. They also reportedly shared video guides with Chinese users about falsifying their country of residence to obtain Binance’s debit card.
Do you think Huobi can turn China’s ban using Dominican digital citizenship? Let us know in the comments below.