OKCoin Becomes Latest Bitcoin Exchange to Freeze US Dollar Deposits

Chinese digital currency exchange OKCoin has stopped accepting US dollar deposits, a move it attributed to banking issues.

OKCoin becomes the latest cryptocurrency service to report problems with USD transfers, coming just a day after Bitfinex revealed that it, too, wouldn’t be able to accept transfers, citing correspondent bank problems that initially focused on outgoing wires.

When reached, an online support staffer for OKCoin told CoinDesk that the exchange currently doesn’t have an exact timeline for reactivation. The exchange told users yesterday that it was working to restore deposit functions through alternative channels.

"Please do not make further deposits as your wires may be rejected by intermediary banks," a notice posted on the exchange’s website stated.

The move comes months after OKCoin, as well as other exchanges based in China, shifted policies in light of new regulatory scrutiny and later froze bitcoin and litecoin withdrawals pending upgrades to their systems. That state of affairs continues, a situation local sources have attributed to ongoing discussions with the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) and other regulators in the country.

It also follows the release by OKCoin of beefed up anti-money laundering/know-your-customer requirements on 10th April.

Other exchanges have reported transfer holds as well, though how the developments are connected isn't immediately clear. Crypto-exchange BTC-e, for example, said that it wouldn’t accept international transfers in USD for the next month, citing a shift to a new bank account in a post on Twitter from 14th April.

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