The director of the People’s Bank of China has said regulators will adopt a “forgiving attitude” to Bitcoin exchanges in the future.

In a translated report reproduced by local news resource cnLedger on Twitter, Zhou Xuedong said that the PBoC would choose an observation period in which exchanges would be monitored.

1/ PBoC director: we shall adopt a forgiving attitude, not prohibit the exchanges for the time being & set an observation period. #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/3WXZXCGx0K — cnLedger (@cnLedger) March 7, 2017

He also suggested regulation in China may follow, giving the example of a licensing scheme - something expected and supported by exchanges and the wider community.

The update comes after a relatively quiet period in China as exchanges prepare to comply with recommendations from the PBoC’s January inspections.

As traders migrated to sites such as LocalBitcoins while Chinese exchanges halted withdrawals, Bitcoin remained broadly unfazed in terms of volatility.

News of official regulation is broadly seen as beneficial to the entire industry, helping further stem volatility in Bitcoin as an asset.

Xuedong also said that for the meantime, exchanges would be subject to continued “strict supervision.”