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Sichuan police uncover clandestine financing scheme involving $2 billion in USDT
Chinese police in Sichuan have reportedly stepped up a crackdown on underground banking networks, with a particular focus on USDT transactions totaling billions of US dollars.
Chinese police in Sichuan The province allegedly discovered a large-scale underground banking system, whose operations allegedly involved the use of AttachedThe stablecoin USDT of . According to local reportsThe crackdown targeted suspects who allegedly evaded national foreign exchange oversight and facilitated illicit foreign exchange transactions involving nearly $2 billion in USDT.
The suspects allegedly used the stablecoin as a means to circumvent domestic foreign exchange regulations and provide illicit foreign exchange settlement channels, the report said. Authorities have reportedly closed two underground banking centers located in the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Hunan. The affair is said to have spread to 26 provinces of the country. Chinawith more than 190 suspects arrested nationwide by police.
Although Sichuan once played an important role in the crypto industry due to its cheap hydroelectric power, attracting Bitcoin miners looking for low-cost power for their operations, the landscape has quickly changed after Beijing’s decision. general ban on all crypto mining operations and transactions in the country.
By the end of 2023, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) underlines criminal cases involving stablecoins, highlighting that digital currencies backed by fiat currencies had become a popular intermediary for swapping yuan with other currencies in illegal foreign exchange cases.