Do you want to know why the market is really in limbo? It is about when the Chinese government is going to shut down Huobi's bank account and arrest the owner. This has nothing to do with the 31st. It is a completely unpredictable event.
Absolutely right on. The only thing left now is Huobi (and to a lesser extent OK Coin), both of whom are at risk of being shut down at anytime. But this has nothing to do with the 31st of January.
I think it's possible that the owner/operators of those exchanges are influential party members or more likely related to influential party members. The payment processor issue was more about favoritism against Bobby Lee (the outsider) than anything else. It's also very possible that the ban will drive renmimbi/yuan to the exchanges as people thing this may be their last chance to buy a rapidly appreciating asset that allows them to evade capital controls.