The new law clearly aims to eliminate stablecoins, strictly prohibiting and resolutely banning virtual currency exchanges. The entrepreneurs who should be fleeing are still acting as if nothing happened, continuing to cash in USDT, still placing orders in the market, still changing accounts to hold on.
Not closing accounts, not withdrawing from the market, not cutting ties, I don't even know what they are waiting for?
I have always said that this round of regulation has no intention to harm retail investors, no intention to ban blockchain, and has not said anything about not allowing individuals to hold or trade cryptocurrencies.
Even if the entrance and exit for deposits and withdrawals has narrowed, affecting retail investors, it is still collateral damage to the OTC market.
This time, the cryptocurrency dealer industry, whether online or offline, whether in the mainland or Hong Kong, will have to face consequences.
In the past decade, a bunch of A8s and A9s have emerged from cryptocurrency dealers, buying cars and houses, enjoying unlimited glory. Many people really think that those who can hide, switch cards, and audit the source of funds survive?
It's all nonsense.
The essence of being able to survive and make money is that the old gentlemen turn a blind eye. In the past, OTCs mostly froze accounts, imposed fines, and educated a bit. Getting bail without prosecution was the norm; even if your exchange handled several tens of millions in volume, if you encountered a good person, they might let you off lightly.
I've seen a cryptocurrency dealer who had up to 7 bail applications at one point.
But this time is different, completely different. I won’t be the one to manipulate the market; no one else should think they can play.
On February 6, as soon as the new regulations from eight departments were implemented, Hong Kong already started; about 200 physical cryptocurrency exchange stores in Hong Kong became the first targets.
Customs is checking one by one with VAOTC virtual asset OTC trading licenses; if there’s no temporary registration or formal license, they will treat it as operating without a license.
What's harsher is that they directly use trial purchases to conduct fishing law enforcement, with law enforcement officers pretending to be customers coming to exchange U, without KYC, unable to provide compliance proof, sealing the scene and catching people red-handed.
Now the old OTC stores in Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok are panicking.
Starting from early February, they began clustering to post notices for renovations and suspending operations, which is to say they don’t want to bump into the muzzle. Friends in Hong Kong will know after a stroll; half a street is closed, and no one dares to commit crimes in the wind.
The mainland is giving RMB, and Hong Kong is giving cryptocurrency; this gray counter-trading channel is also being blocked. Recently, whether retail investors or KOLs in the circle, many have had their deposits frozen, which is a chain reaction.
Many OTCs in the country still think they are just moving bricks to earn price differences, making a bit of hard-earned money. Little do they know, in the eyes of regulators, this industry is the intermediary of on-chain dollars, the online version of underground banks.
What are USDT and USDC? They are digital dollars, the reach of US dollar hegemony extending into Web3, circumventing foreign exchange controls, bypassing cross-border settlements, directly digging at the corner of the RMB.
Retail investors hoarding coins and exchanging on-chain can't stir up much trouble; can cryptocurrency dealers do the same? You are the only physical nodes connecting fiat and stablecoins, and are a visible risk to financial security.
The game between China and the US has reached today; monetary sovereignty is the bottom line.
Blockchain can be developed, RWA can be done, individual trading can be overlooked, but the exchange of fiat and stablecoins, and the OTC dealer business, must be eradicated.
In the future, the judicial stance will definitely be strictly enforced. To put it bluntly, in cases where cryptocurrency dealers are suspected of concealing, those who can be released on bail will definitely be detained, and those who can be given suspended sentences will definitely serve prison time.
Don't expect that returning stolen goods or pleading guilty will let you pass; that's not going to happen.
This year, cryptocurrency dealers must catch a wave of people.
Whether in WEB3 or the cryptocurrency circle, retail investors still have their own spaces, but cryptocurrency dealers do not. Retail investors can bear their own risks, but dealers cannot.
Don't think that just because the momentum has passed, you're fine, and don't think that you’re safe just because others haven't run away. When the water in the pool is drained, the fish still in the pit can only wait to die.
Cryptocurrency dealers have no future, only a criminal record, no business, only liquidation.
This time, there really is no way to play.