Alibaba stops selling cryptomining hardware
Alibaba is removing hardware and software in the crypto sector from its offer. (Photo: dpa)
E-commerce group Alibaba is withdrawing from trading in hardware for mining Bitcoin or Ethereum after the de facto ban on cryptocurrencies in China.
On Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) published new guidelines for dealing with Bitcoin and Co., which criminalize the trading and mining of cryptocurrencies. The de facto ban particularly affects international crypto exchanges that are active in China and that have already drawn their conclusions. For example, Binance and Huobi will exclude Chinese users from crypto trading in the future. Now the e-commerce platform Alibaba is pulling the plug on the sale of corresponding hardware.
From October 8, the group wants to stop trading in mining equipment, such as Alibaba communicated. Alibaba did not only blame Chinese regulation for the move, but also the unstable legal situation in the crypto area on various international markets. In addition to hardware, this also applies to software and tutorials. For this purpose, the two categories “Blockchain Miner Accessories” and “Blockchain Miners” will be deleted, such as Coindesk reported.
Third-party providers on the platform have until October 15 to adjust their offerings accordingly. Subsequently, severe penalties are imminent for violations. This includes deleting product offers or merchant accounts. It is also possible to restrict website functions.
In addition to the sales stop for mining rigs and similar hardware, Alibaba also plans to ban trading in cryptocurrencies itself. Alibaba names Bitcoin, Litecoin, Beaocoin, Quarkcoin and Ethereum as examples. Alibaba owns various other e-commerce platforms in China such as Taobao and Xianyu as well as Tmall. But international shopping platforms belonging to Alibaba such as Aliexpress or Lazada are also affected by the crypto ban.
If you want to get dedicated mining hardware like the Bitmain Antminer E9, you will have to look for other platforms in the future. However, hardware such as processors or graphics cards, which can also be used to mine cryptocurrencies, are not covered by the sales ban, such as Notebookcheck writes.
