Alibaba prohibits crypto & ICO services on its shopping site

Yes, Alibaba is not as crypto-friendly as you thought.

After a recent news from Alibaba that it is developing a is adopting blockchain technology for cross-border e-commerce, now it is reportedly planning to bar crypto related services on its site. Taobao, the internet shopping site under the e-commerce giant Alibaba has updated its list of goods and services that are prohibited on the platform, which now includes those related to cryptocurrencies as well.

According to the latest update released recently, the site has now formally banned individual stores on its platform from providing services related to initial coin offerings (ICOs), such as technological development, marketing, and business proposal writing, among others.

The new rules also extend the platform’s existing self-regulatory scope from a previous ban on the sale of individual virtual currencies to now any service or product that derives from a blockchain technology, including crypto-pets and will be effective starting from April 17.

In addition, the existing restriction on selling cryptocurrency mining devices and offering mining tutorials remains unchanged. Citing the notable clampdown on ICOs by the People’s Bank of China last September, Taobao stated that stores that violate the new rules by continuing offering these services will be punished.

Last but not least, various services related to ICOs have remained active among individual stores on Taobao after the PBoC ban last year, some of which knowingly helped ICO projects draw up white papers with fake information.

As in 2017 reports, China was dubbed as the world’s largest Cryptocurrency market, however, such strict policies from tech giants tell a different story. Taobao’s new ruling also makes it the latest internet platform to withdraw from offering a stage to ICOs and blockchain related projects, following recent bans on cryptocurrency-related ads by social media giants such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Image Source: Cointelegraph