Alibaba's Alipay Bans All Bitcoin, Crypto Transactions

Can Alipay be used for bitcoin transactions? Alipay says no.

There has been much confusion lately on whether Alipay can be used for fiat-crypto on-ramp transactions with Binance since Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, affirmed a tweet that they now could.

With WeChat and Alipay available as payment methods for buying bitcoin from Binance, one Twitter user asked, "Is #Binance now accepting fiat on-ramp with #Alipay and #Wechat pay? Exciting news... would love for someone to confirm. @cz_binance."

CZ's response is a resounding, "YES."

However, Alipay disproved that claim by commenting, "NO, you cannot," and added a Twitter status they posted three hours before.

"There're several reports about @Alipay being used for bitcoin transactions. To reiterate, Alipay closely monitors over-the-counter transactions to identify irregular behavior and ensure compliance with relevant regulations."

The Alibaba group-founded online payment platform also added that they will stop their payment services for transactions that they will identify as related to bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

China has somewhat a wavering stance on cryptocurrencies. Back in April, the country wanted to ban bitcoin mining completely. And, most recently, Chinese regulators are planning to clamp down mining operations in Inner Mongolia, which is one of the largest mining bases in China.

However, in August, Forbes reported that Central Bank of China is rumored to be launching a government cryptocurrency of their own that they will issue to these seven institutions: The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, The Bank of China, The Agricultural Bank of China, Tencent, Union Pay, an association of Chinese banks and Alibaba.

And, when the cryptocurrency launches in a few months, the institutions will be responsible for circulating it to its citizens.

A Twitter user who goes by the username truthseeker explained the relationship of Alipay and China which was retweeted by CZ.

"For those who don't understand China & Alipay. Chinese government is negative on bitcoin, positive on blockchain, want to issues its own digital currency to compete with bitcoin and Libra, and push RMB world dominance. But they do allow citizens to own and hold bitcoin. 1/5"

Binance also recently announced peer-to-peer (P2P) trading for Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT) against the Chinese yuan (CNY) and that they will be made available to Anrdoid users initially, according to Cointelegraph.