Chinese e-commerce giant cites a need to “increase control of derivative services”
Taobao, a popular e-commerce subsidiary of Alibaba, is set to ban services listing cryptocurrencies and ICOs.
Taobao previously had rules preventing crypto mining and mining consultation. This latest rules update. The company says the new rule is “to standardize the market management order of Taobao’s online shopping platform.”
The site’s new ban now forbids the sale of assets or tokens generated through blockchain like those for blockchain games and other utilities. Marketing, consultancy, and business planning in the field is forbidden too. Basically, if it’s crypto, it’s got to go.
This is surprising, given parent company Alibaba’s support of wider blockchain adoption. The Chinese giant is leading research and development on blockchain technologies, if you go by the number of patents in the field they boast. China itself is fairly lukewarm on the idea of blockchain tech – the Chinese government recently contributed to a $1 billion blockchain fund.