Chinese ICO Site Suspends Trading

ICO.info, an ICO investment site in China has been suspended. The site aimed to provide Chinese investors with the opportunity to invest in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). This is on the back of news that government officials were scrutinizing the site.

The operators posted a notice on the site about the changing regulatory environment that forced them to suspend the platform. However, for those users that want to partake in the current listings, they are still taking funds. The site announcement says.

Because of a shifting regulatory environment, and in order to minimize risk for supporters and project-owners, ICOINFO is voluntarily temporarily suspending all ICO-related functionality on the site. Once we have clarity from the relevant departments, we will begin conducting business in accordance with their specifications and policies

They also state that withdrawal and deposit functions have now been suspended but will be brought back online on September 5.

ICO Crackdown

This all comes on the heels of increased Chinese regulatory pressure on ICOs in the country. They are currently developing regulations that would ban "illegal" financing through the ICOs. This draft proposal is asking the public for their general comments on the matter. The proposed rule is aimed at reducing a number of general fundraising activities in the country.

The drafters of the new legislation want to include digital assets such as tokens into the existing regulations governing general illegal fundraising. Under the current legislation for illegal fundraising, the penalties are quite severe. Illegally taking on public deposits carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

A Broader Trend?

In the midst of all the news coming from the Chinese government on ICOs, there was also the announcement by Red Pulse that they would not allow Chinese citizens to partake in their ICO. In the below tweet, the start-up said that they would have to make it "difficult" for Chinese citizens

Red Pulse is a decentralised market research platform that was planning the ICO and was going to do the coin raise on the NEO network. The price of the NEO token took a massive nosedive right after the announcement.

Indeed, as NEO has been compared to China's Ethereum, it has seen the brunt of these revelations emanating from the government. It has fallen from its recent historic highs of over $48 earlier this month. There is no doubt that lack of ICO demand for the coin will lead continue to lead to considerable price pressure.