As the Chinese central bank is ramping up the scrutiny of bitcoin exchanges in the country, bitcoin investment platform BTC123 has announced the discontinuation of certain services, CoinDesk reported.

Established in 2011, BTC123 said in a blog post that 26th January onwards it would stop deposits for a financial management system involving bitcoin and the yuan. The company cited the regulatory requirements of the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security as the reason behind its decision.

In addition, the company is also devising an interest-generating feature, lowering rates (by 2%) that users can earn effective today.

Speaking with CoinDesk, Ricardo Zhang, CEO of BTC123, explained that the company is retooling its strategy in the wake of the shifting regulatory environment in China. He emphasized that the site would adhere to any regulations required by the government.

"Our main business will be in accordance with the Chinese government['s] laws and regulations”, he said.

The announcement follows recent reports that official from the PBoC met with the representatives of bitcoin exchanges operating in the country. Reports also suggested that the central bank launched investigations on bitcoin exchanges, including BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin, for possible market manipulation, money laundering, unauthorized financing and other issues, as reported by Reuters.

The central bank’s efforts have taken a toll on bitcoin price which tumbled from over $1100 levels to $751 levels on Thursday.