Chinese mobile payment giant Alipay has said that it doesn’t support the purchase of cryptocurrencies on its payment platform.
Alipay’s statement comes after the Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, said that it now supports cryptocurrency purchases via Alipay and WeChat Pay, which BeInCrypto reported on yesterday.
Alipay took to social media to reiterate that it doesn’t support the trading of cryptocurrencies.
There're several reports about @Alipay being used for bitcoin transactions. To reiterate, Alipay closely monitors over-the-counter transactions to identify irregular behavior and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. [cont'd…]
— Alipay (@Alipay) October 10, 2019
Need Proof?
Dovey Wan (DoveyWan), of the crypto asset management company Primitive Ventures, tweeted an error message reportedly received from WeChat after the platform denied cryptocurrency purchases.
wechat pay also followed up with an announcement to reassure “wechat will never support cryptocurrencies trading, and has never integrated with any crypto merchant
And it says “we welcome any whistle blower to report such behavior” 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/Kj4HTupkKZ
— Dovey Wan 🗝 🦖 (@DoveyWan) October 10, 2019
Wan said the formal denial by Alipay and WeChat was triggered by the confirmation from Binance that it supports Alipay and WeChat, adding that it’s a common PR practice in China.
Twitter user @truthurtm claimed that smaller exchanges in China have been hosting peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin trading using Alipay and WeChat without any challenges. However, the account claimed that Binance’s status as the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange forced Alipay to take action and confirm its anti-crypto stance.
AliPay and WeChat are basically state-owned. They must act accordingly or they will get punished. There have already been many other smaller exchanges in China doing peer-to-peer bitcoin trading, using AliPay and WeChat. No one really cared.
— truthseeker (@truthurtm) October 10, 2019
Binance’s Upcoming Plans
In September, Binance announced plans to start supporting fiat on-ramp via OTC for the Chinese yuan, a part of the exchange’s plans to dedicate more time to competing adequately in the Chinese market, as BeInCrypto has previously reported. Zhao confirmed in an October 9 tweet that the company has launched P2P trading in China. According to the CEO, about 1.4 billion people in China can now use the service, with the exchange planning to “expand the service to other regions soon.”
Binance had quit its operations in China two years ago when regulators directed local crypto exchanges to stop marketing to Chinese users, a move aimed at preventing illicit trading in the country. As a result, the exchange moved its offices to Taiwan and Japan, and incorporated its business in Malta, colloquially called the “Blockchain Island” due to the nation’s friendly stance on cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Binance competitors Huobi and OKCoin already run OTC crypto platforms in China’s blossoming P2P market.
What do you think about Binance wrongfully claiming that the two apps trade Bitcoin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Images are courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock.
