OKCoin Publishes, Then Withdraws Bitcoin Exchange Fee Update

One of China's 'Big Three' bitcoin exchanges issued an update on its fee policies today, only to later remove the statement from its website.

In a post on its China-based website, OKCoin indicated that it would alter its policies to a maker-taker model, one that would offer zero-fee trading to those who provide liquidity to the exchange. A 0.2% fee would still be charged on all other trades.

Notably, the notice no longer appears on OKCoin's website.

If enacted, the move would be the first since 23rd January that finds a major China-based exchange breaking from an informal commitment to charge 0.2% fees on both sides of bitcoin-denominated trades, spurred by scrutiny from the People’s Bank of China.

As previously reported, volume has moved since those developments, largely to other no-fee exchanges based in China.

BTCC CEO Bobby Lee said at the time that the commitment to a standard trading fee policy was meant to keep China's exchange ecosystem "one step ahead" of requests by the central bank.

The post is notable, however, even if the fee changes are not enacted, as it suggests that the decline in volumes at major China-based markets may be putting pressure on the exchanges to win back lost activity.

OKCoin did not respond to requests for further comment at press time.

The notice can be found in full below:

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