The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has clarified that it did not ask bitcoin companies to stop the withdrawal of funds, Forklog reported.

Earlier this year, the central bank ramped up its efforts to ensure regulatory compliance by domestic bitcoin exchanges. The PBoC not only issued warnings to the bitcoin exchanges, but also launched spot checks and met with company representatives.

Soon after, leading exchanges, including BTCC, OKCoin, and Huobi, in February announced the suspension of withdrawals of bitcoin and litecoin for a month. Later in March, Bloomberg reported that the three exchanges have decided to extend this suspension on all coin withdrawals for an indefinite period, as they seek regulatory approval.

In its reply to a bitcoin user, the PBoC stated:

“We did not ask trading platforms to suspend w/d. It was a decision made by themselves. The inspection has not ended.”

cnLedger posted a copy of the official letter on Twitter: