China blocks Binance

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has joined the growing list of websites that have been blacklisted by China.

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 8, 2021

Chinas great firewall, which has restricted access to the cryptocurrency exchange, can be bypassed using a virtual private network (VPN) service.

Since last month, crypto users in China have been unable to search for popular cryptocurrency exchanges on Chinese internet services like Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Weibo (NASDAQ:WB), Zhihu, and Sogo amid reports of possible censorship. However, Binance's rivals, Huobi and OKEx, are still available in China.

The Chinese government has been tightening its cryptocurrency regulations since 2017 in an effort to control capital outflows. The worlds largest exchange was initially headquartered in China but was relocated due to the 2017 crypto ban.

Blacklisting Binance is arguably part of China‘s crypto crackdown, which saw the eradication of the country’s entire Bitcoin mining industry last month. Binance is also facing severe regulatory scrutiny around the world. Multiple U.K. banks have blocked payments to the trading platform.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to face price pressure raising concerns among investors and traders outside and inside China.