The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has formally announced a suspension to all ICOs and token offerings and financing activities by releasing two notices, namely, the Notice of Seven Ministries Including the People’s Bank of China on Guard against Risks of Token Offering and Financing (Joint Notice) and Notice on the Rectification of Token Offering and Financing Activities (Zheng Zhi Ban Han [2017] No.99)( Notice 99). Further, there is speculation that formal government action suspending virtual currency trading platforms is imminent, which has already caused major China-based trading platforms to suspend their activities.
In the two formal notices, the Chinese government has identified initial coin offerings (ICOs) as essentially an unapproved illegal public financing highly suspected of facilitating illegal fund-raising, illegal securities offerings, illegal offering and sale of tokens, financial fraud, and pyramid schemes. Accordingly, these documents provide that all types of token offering and financing shall come to a halt. The organizations and individuals who have completed the token offering and financing should plan to withdraw and make other arrangements, protecting the interests of investors and handling the risks properly.