China National Radio’s (CNR) “Voice of China” program has alleged that the crypto exchange OKEx is illegally working in China with Chinese clients, CNR reports Thursday, May 3. Chinese crypto exchanges have been banned from operating in the country by the government last fall.
As of press time, OKEx is the third ranked exchange by 24 hour trading volume on Coinmarketcap, with around $1.8 bln reported in trades over the past 24 hours.
The Voice of China report is part of a series that aims to “reveal the secret behind digital currencies.” The article quotes reported OKEx investor Yang, who believes that OKEx still operates the company in Beijing for Chinese users. He alleges that the exchange has moved its headquarters to Belize and the team to Hong Kong in name only.
Yang says that OKEx is actually conducting crypto future transactions that use leverage to multiply trade results, even though OKEx calls them “contract transactions.” The Voice of China report also notes that OKEx has a “point to point” transaction that lets consumers pay with their Alipay or Wechat accounts, despite China’s ban on transacting between crypto and fiat.
Voice of China adds that Yang and other OKEx investors reported the crypto exchange to the public security, industry and commerce departments, but were told that the Financial Bureau was handling it.
OKEx had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by press time.
In February of this year, China blocked foreign crypto exchanges on top of the domestic exchange ban, citing “financial risks.” However, Cointelegraph reported in March that despite China’s crypto crackdown, crypto and blockchain development are still growing in the country.