Regulator halts Chinese cryptocurrency exchange

A major Chinese cryptocurrency exchange has stopped hosting fundraising of new virtual currencies, also known as “initial coin offerings” (ICOs), as the government looks to tighten oversight of the still-unregulated yet growing sector. ICOINFO, China’s second-largest ICO exchange by value of funds raised, said in a statement Wednesday that it has suspended all ICO-related activities. The company said it would resume hosting ICOs in accordance with regulators’ specification and policies once they “have clarity from the relevant departments.” Liu Chen, CEO of Clipper Advisor, which completed a pre-ICO fundraising on ICOINFO before the current halt, told Caixin: “We think the cryptocurrency market will be the next financial market. We want to fundamentally change the current financial system. For us, this is also an exploration. We don’t know everything that lies ahead.” In China, investors snapped up 2.6 billion yuan ($394 million) worth of new virtual currencies through ICOs during the first six months of this year, a government-backed study found.