Rampant China Bitcoin ban rumors
The crypto industry has never been short on rumors suggesting that China is preparing to unban Bitcoin since the nation’s 2021 crackdown on crypto trading and mining.
But this past week, the narrative flipped, with some media outlets claiming that China is now banning Bitcoin ownership outright. One of the most widely circulated stories came from India-based Financial Express, which cited a supposed “Binance” report.
Magazine found no such report authored by Binance, and the exchange did not respond to a request for comment. Magazine also found no supporting reports from Chinese state media or official government sources.
However, a May 30 post on Binance Square claims that China announced a new ban on holding crypto, including Bitcoin. Binance Square functions as a content-sharing social platform for the exchange’s community. Its terms and conditions say that Binance will not be responsible for errors in content shared by users.
A blanket ban on crypto ownership would be highly unusual, even for China. Despite restrictions on trading and mining, Chinese courts have repeatedly ruled that cryptocurrencies are legally recognized as property. In November, a Shanghai judge affirmed that crypto assets are not explicitly prohibited and described Bitcoin as a commodity.
Gate.io faces $30 million compensation bill
A sudden price spike in the Lagrange-USDT perpetual contract on Gate.io has ignited community outrage, with several traders reporting forced liquidations and even negative balances within seconds of opening short positions.
The drama began when Binance announced it would list Lagrange (LA) on its Alpha program, an early-access platform for new tokens. Traders across the crypto market saw a familiar opportunity, given that Alpha-listed tokens often drop in price soon after listing.
Many traders expected LA to follow the same pattern and rushed to short the token. Gate.io was one of the only exchanges that offered the option at the time.
But instead of a crash, LA’s price on Gate.io spiked to as high as $25 while it was trading for less than a dollar on other exchanges, triggering a cascade of liquidations.
Some users accused Gate.io of manipulating prices, trading against users, or running a coordinated liquidation scheme. Others criticized the decision to list a highly illiquid token like LA for leveraged trading in the first place. One post claimed a trader ended up over $200,000 in the red.
Gate.io delisted the LA perpetual in about 15 minutes after launch, citing “abnormal price behavior.”
The exchange’s chief business officer, Kevin Lee, posted a response, denying any manipulation. According to Lee, the spike was caused by an “index price feed anomaly,” which was compounded by the exchange’s automated risk controls.
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“There was no internal manipulation, no sniper liquidation, and no deliberate targeting of users,” he wrote.
Gate said it delisted the LA contract to limit further damage. It vowed to reimburse all accounts that dipped into negative balances and will allow users to keep any legitimate trading profits. The exchange’s total compensation bill is expected to exceed $30 million.
Shanghai adopts blockchain for documents
Shanghai’s Pudong district will formally enforce blockchain-based electronic document rules starting July 1.
Pudong authorities released a 16-article document of rules for blockchain-based e-document applications. It outlines how businesses and government bodies should deploy official documents on blockchains, such as managing, issuing and verifying.
These rules were approved internally on April 30 after Shanghai’s local congress passed the country’s first localized law specifically governing blockchain-enabled documents on Dec. 31, 2024. Pudong’s rules were released to the public on June 3.
The implementation rules specify technical and operational requirements such as document authenticity, digital identity verification, crosschain interoperability and system reliability.
They also promote cross-border data flows, integration with…
cointelegraph.com