Chinese Financial Commentator Fired Over Crypto Comments: Report

Cai Junyi, assistant director and chief market analyst of the Shanghai Securities Research Institute, was dismissed from his post because he was promoting cryptocurrencies, reported China Fund News.

• One source said that Cai was arrested by police in July, while another source said that he surrendered to the authorities, according to the report.
• Cai allegedly promoted crypto during a live event, according to the report. But there were other reasons behind his removal, another source said.
• The police will reveal more information soon, according to the report.
• China’s financial regulators banned crypto exchanges and initial coin offerings in 2017 and have been cracking down more intensely on the industry, especially crypto mining, since May.
• Cai was a prominent financial commentator in print and on TV. Shanghai Securities is a brokerage founded in 2001 and has registered capital of RMB 2.6 billion ($400 million), according to company data platform Aiqicha.
• In July, crypto news source CoinWorld announced it was shutting down, saying it was following cryptocurrency provisions issued by the Business Administration Department of the People’s Bank of China.