Shenzhen exchange to clamp down on claims of blockchain expertise by listed firms
Companies have been investing in blockchain-related businesses, and even changing their names to claim blockchain know-how, with the aim of hyping up their share price
Shenzhen Stock Exchange, one of China’s two major bourses, issued a warning notice on Tuesday evening saying it would punish any company that uses the buying of blockchain-related stocks, or falsely claims to be developing blockchain business models to hype up their own share performance.
“We have interviewed 17 companies about their business models and investments in developing blockchain-related operations,” the Shenzhen bourse said on its official WeChat account, which has become am effective tool for companies and regulators to issue announcements, due to the platform’s massive traffic.
The exchange “is to make enquiries on the progress of companies using blockchain technologies in their business operations, and how the technology could boost their revenues”.
“We would implement administrative punishment on any companies which continue to use the concept of blockchain to create hype in their [own] share price, or misguide investors.
“Those who have breached the law by doing so, or those in future, will be dealt with by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).”
While many investors continue to get their heads around what exactly is blockchain – a decentralised and distributed digital ledger used mostly to secure bitcoin transactions – equity markets across the globe have generally welcomed the concept with open arms.