China is ramping up its cryptocurrency prohibition efforts again with a directive issued by ten institutions last Friday covering a range of activities including offshore transactions and hiring.

All crypto transactions in China are banned, according to authorities in a statement that highlighted examples such as Tether, Bitcoin and Ether. 

Banned crypto-related activities extend to services provided by offshore exchanges to domestic residents.

The statement was issued by the People’s Bank of China alongside nine other institutions that included the supreme court, the police and the internet and securities watchdogs.

Intensified Crackdown

The nation’s top economic planning agency asking local officials to investigate abnormal power usage, call in loans and eliminate preferential tax treatment to accelerate the shutdown of mining operations. 

In addition, crypto platforms will also be forbidden to hire locally for roles like marketing, tech and payment, limiting their ability to serve Chinese customers.

The latest efforts are part of an ongoing crackdown that traces back to September 2017 when authorities first banned initial coin offerings in China.