Chinese bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC has revealed that it will shut down its marketplace for mining contracts this week.

It is a move that comes right after new reports of a ban by China authorities in the country.

In a statement, ViaBTC disclosed that it would shut down the market – through which users can purchase contracts entitling them to a certain amount of hashing power (and the associated cryptocurrency payouts) – on January 10.

It cited the need to “control speculation and protect the interests of our investors” as the reason.

“In order to control speculation and protect the interests of our investors, ViaBTC will officially close cloud mining Market at UTC time 12:00 Jan 10th, 2018.

“Please finish all your cloud mining contract trading ASAP. Thank you all for your support,” the statement read.

ViaBTC first initiated its cloud mining service in November 2016.

The closure comes a few months after ViaBTC closed down its cryptocurrency exchange in response to a crackdown by Chinese authorities on the country’s exchange ecosystem.

It was a process that began just after the beginning of 2016.

Officials also acted to bar the use of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September.

While it remains vague if the two events are connected, the latest disclosure follows new reports that officials in China are looking at a measured shutdown of domestic bitcoin mining operations.

According to documents circulated over the weekend and attributed to the Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation, a Chinese regulator, officials want to check support for local miners.

It called for actions around power and land use.

One of the documents asked officials make plans for such a process by the 10th.

As reported by Bloomberg, miners in China are moving away from the country, and are looking at new locations in Europe and North America.

The report indicated that officials in China want to authorize an “orderly” shutdown of the mining ecosystem.