Earlier this month, new rules regarding the use of instant messaging applications were laid out by the heavy-handed Chinese government. This week, several accounts related to cryptocurrency and blockchain news were banned on the WeChat mobile platform. No explanation has been given yet, apart from a message given to the banned accounts that stated that certain regulations were violated.

Chinese Government Bans Crypto-Related WeChat Accounts

On the 21st of August, fans of several WeChat accounts related to the blockchain industry was disappointed to learn that all previous articles posted by these accounts were forcefully removed. Additionally, the accounts were banned, and future use of the accounts by its owners have been prohibited.

It was noted that Jinse Caijing, a popular crypto-centric news outlet in China, was one of the first accounts banned by this crackdown. Upon loading Jinse’s official WeChat account, followers were greeted with a message that the account has been banned due to a violation of WeChat’s newly-instated regulations.

A variety of other noteworthy accounts on the WeChat platform were also affected. The affected firms include the primary account of the DeepBrainChain (DBC) project, as well as the official CoinDaily and Huobi News accounts. Several other China-based accounts that were associated with cryptocurrencies, as well as blockchain in general, were removed from the popular mobile application.

At the moment, no specific details as to why exactly these accounts were banned by WeChat have been announced yet. One interesting theory is that the ban could be in accordance with a new set of rules and regulations set out by the Chinese Cyberspace Administration.

These new regulations were officially published on the 7th of August, just two weeks ago. These regulations address activities related to the release and sharing of public information on instant messaging platforms. However, no specific details were shared regarding the exact types of services and products that were being targeted by these regulations.

After the Cyberspace Administration has now gone after blockchain-related accounts on WeChat, it can only be suspected that these new regulations have a direct reference to instant messaging events related to these types of activities in mind.

China Isn’t Particularly In Favor Of The Crypto Industry

Certain authorities in China had previously already made it clear that the country is not particularly fond of the crypto industry. Earlier this year, an official publication by People’s Daily, a media outlet that is run by the Chinese Government, announced that they believe numerous media authorities in the country are using their position of power to influence crypto markets directly.

Several factors may be contributing to the fact that the Chinese government seems to have taken a possible dislike in the cryptocurrency industry. Another example could be the fact that several legal cases related to cryptocurrency have already been filed with courts in China. In fact, according to one report, 274 cases have been opened that are directly related to digital assets. A total of 126 of these cases were filed as criminal cases, raising concerns of the utilization of these “crypto coins” within the country’s systems.

At the moment, legal courts within the country are finding it difficult to rule on cases related to cryptocurrency trading events. Numerous reasons for this sentiment have been suggested. In particular, the rapidly fluctuating prices often makes it difficult to accurately determine the losses of defendant parties.

This week, the official Jinse, DeepChain, and CoinDaily accounts on the WeChat platform in China were banned. Along with these accounts, several other accounts related to the crypto market was also banned. Public messages appeared on all accounts, stating that the accounts have been prohibited and have violated terms in “temporary regulations.” No further details have yet to have been published.