Chinese Digital Currency Exchange BTCChina Denies Affiliation with BTCC

BTCChina, the first cryptocurrency exchange service provider in China, has denied any link or affiliation with BTCC and clarified that BTCC is not the abbreviation of BTCChina, the company said in a statement.

The clarification was issued in response to news reports that the country’s first and longest-serving digital currency exchange had issued a token. But Richard Zhu, a legal representative for BTCChina, said that the company has not released any utility coins and is not planning on issuing one any time soon.

“Utility tokens or ‘initial coin offerings’ are when cryptocurrency businesses sell digital tokens to raise money for their projects,” the statement said. Zhu said BTCChina is not a party to the issuance of the "BTCC Token" and is not endorsing the token.

He added BTCChina was the first cryptocurrency exchange based in China, and operated as such from 2011 to 2017. However, the company closed its digital exchange operations beginning on September 30, 2017, after the Chinese government issued a crackdown on cryptocurrency operations. According to Zhu, BTCChina is not even operating its virtual currency exchange or business.

The Chinese government announced in September last year a ban on cryptocurrency exchange operations, as well as stop over-the-counter or peer-to-peer crypto trading. The decision was a significant blow to Chinese crypto traders and investors.

"BTCChina opposes any attempts to mischaracterize its business or associate its brand or name with unrelated companies," said Zhu.

He added BTCChina used to be a part of the BTCC Group Company, which was acquired by a Hong Kong-based investment firm, Zhu said. However, BTCChina was not involved in the acquisition, thus the exchange is no longer affiliated with BTCC.

According to Zhu, BTCChina and BTCC both maintain their separate organizations and employ different managers and employees. The two companies also have distinct shareholders, board members, and even beneficial owners.

He also noted that Bobby Lee is not an employee, manager, board member, shareholder, or ultimate beneficial owner of BTCC.

Last month, a Twitter post said that BTCChina is making a comeback after nine months of slumber.

The post reads:

“The world's oldest cryptocurrency exchange, BTCC, formerly BTC China, after taking a 9 months break from cryptocurrency announced on Monday that it is relaunching it's exchange platform. The revamped exchange from BTCC will support crypto to fiat exchange and crypto only trading pic.twitter.com/0SjC5QrO6T     — Mia Tam (@_blockandchain_) July 3, 2018."