NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday issued a cease and desist order against Chinese payment system CNY-Bitcoin, warning that its services violate the Commodity Exchange Act, the Treasury Department said.

The department issued a notice of violation against CNY Bitcoin, a subsidiary of the China-based Bitcoin exchange Huobi, on Monday, saying it is alleged to have been “responsible for violating federal currency exchange rules and for engaging in unfair, deceptive and misleading conduct in connection with its service” of bitcoin exchange CNY.

In a statement on Monday the Department of Treasury said that Huobi’s CNY trading platforms and products are a “central element of the Chinese Communist Party’s financial and political infrastructure.”

The Department also alleged that Huobein is “responsible” for “the illegal acquisition and trading of CNY” by its affiliates.

The department said that the violations of the Commode Act “may result in criminal penalties and/or sanctions.”

In its notice of alleged violations, the department cited a recent decision by the U.K. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was “pursuing a criminal investigation into Huobi and its affiliates” for alleged unlawful acquisition and illegal trading of “cryptocurrency assets.”