Alibaba’s Payment Service Alipay to Ban All Bitcoin Transactions on Its Platform

Alipay, the payments service platform of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has official declared that it will be banning all Bitcoin and crypto-related transactions on its platform.

The announcement was made last week on October 10, when crypto exchange Binance said that it will be accepting fiat currency payments through Alipay as well as other payments and mobile messaging platforms like WeChat.

We already know that China has issued a strict ban on cryptocurrency transactions in the country and also asked all the businesses operating in the country, to refrain from it.

Soon after Binance’s announcement, Alipay quickly refuted the claims to any such possible transactions. In a Twitter thread, the payments processing platform said: “There’re several reports about @Alipay being used for bitcoin transactions. To reiterate, Alipay closely monitors over-the-counter transactions to identify irregular behavior, and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. If any transactions are identified as being related to bitcoin or other virtual currencies, @Alipay immediately stops the relevant payment services.”

Soon after the issue escalated, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao clarified that his crypto exchange is not working directly with Alipay or WeChat. However, users can still use them for any peer-to-peer transactions.

Last week, crypto exchange Binance also announced peer-to-peer trading facility for trading against the Chinese Yuan. Currently, the access to P2P trading facility is available only to the Android users. However, it also plans to soon launch the facility on iOS platform.

Moreover, Binance has also launched its U.S. subsidiary called Binance U.S. that functions under the regulatory laws of the United States. Catherine Coley, CEO of Binance.US, said: “Binance.US is tailor-made for Americans at every step of its development. We are thrilled to establish Binance.US as a distinctive marketplace with roots in America, as we aim to educate and foster the American community to adopt crypto with purpose”.

Back in August 2019, Binance also launched Open Blockchain Project ‘Venus’. The project aims at issuing the company’s own stablecoin pegged to different fiat currencies across the globe.

In the announcement, the company wrote: “Venus, an initiative to develop localized stablecoins and digital assets pegged to fiat currencies across the globe. Binance is looking to create new alliances and partnerships with governments, corporations, technology companies, and other cryptocurrency companies and projects involved in the larger blockchain ecosystem, to empower developed and developing countries to spur new currencies”.