Alibaba to Ban More Crypto-Related Products Amid China Crackdown

Dou Shicong

(Yicai Global) April 12 — China’s biggest online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is extending its list of digital currency-related products which cannot be sold on Taobao, one of its e-commerce marketplaces, as regulators ratchet down on the virtual tender.

The blacklist will contain digital pets and derivative services of initial coin offerings from April 17, Taobao said in an online statement yesterday. The new standards will also adjust the Hangzhou-based firm’s definition of virtual currency, considering them as any tender based on blockchain technology or other commodities featuring a similar production mechanism.

This is the second time in two weeks that Alibaba has made changes to appease watchdogs. Late last month it stopped testing a new digital marketing platform whose incentive system, according to public opinion, closely resembled that of an ICO. Alibaba denied the similarities, saying it is purely a task distribution system in its infancy, but withdrew the product from public testing anyway.

The changes come in response to a full-scale crackdown on cryptocurrencies. Chinese authorities banned ICOs in September in a bid to prevent illegal fundraising and other financial crimes, and have since denied users access to overseas exchanges. Sheng Songcheng, an advisor to China’s central bank, slammed blockchain during a speech earlier this week at the Boao Forum, hailed as Asia’s Davos, where he said the technology is inefficient and has no place in finance.

Taobao prohibited sales of digital currencies, such as bitcoin, back in 2014 in response to regulatory requirements. It has also banned bitcoin mining hardware and software, and tutorials relating to the practice.

Copy-edited by James Boynton