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China Bitcoin Exchange to Stop Trading Virtual Currencies Amid Crackdown
Source: New York Times
China Bitcoin Exchange to Stop Trading Virtual Currencies Amid Crackdown
By CAO LI SEPT. 14, 2017
BEIJING — A major Chinese exchange specializing in the trading of Bitcoin announced on Thursday that it would stop trading by the end of the month, amid a broader crackdown against virtual currencies by the authorities in Beijing.
The announcement by BTC China, the country’s first and largest digital currency exchange, came days after the Chinese authorities banned fund-raising for new digital currencies, and amid worries that regulators would tighten rules surrounding currencies like Bitcoin.
The exchange’s decision is the first of its kind in China, and it raises the specter of other exchanges shutting down Bitcoin trading in the future.
China has sought to walk a tightrope when it comes to Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies. Whereas the currencies provide the country with a chance to develop new and emerging technologies, officials also worry that they would allow Chinese consumers to get around tough restrictions on how much money they can send overseas and allow them to be used to launder money.
Still, the impending closing of BTC China’s online currency trading operations is a blow to the country’s aspirations to lead the way in the sector. Some two-thirds of all Bitcoin issued daily is “mined” in China, and an array of other companies benefit from such efforts, including equipment suppliers and construction firms that build enormous Bitcoin farms.
-snip-
By CAO LI SEPT. 14, 2017
BEIJING — A major Chinese exchange specializing in the trading of Bitcoin announced on Thursday that it would stop trading by the end of the month, amid a broader crackdown against virtual currencies by the authorities in Beijing.
The announcement by BTC China, the country’s first and largest digital currency exchange, came days after the Chinese authorities banned fund-raising for new digital currencies, and amid worries that regulators would tighten rules surrounding currencies like Bitcoin.
The exchange’s decision is the first of its kind in China, and it raises the specter of other exchanges shutting down Bitcoin trading in the future.
China has sought to walk a tightrope when it comes to Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies. Whereas the currencies provide the country with a chance to develop new and emerging technologies, officials also worry that they would allow Chinese consumers to get around tough restrictions on how much money they can send overseas and allow them to be used to launder money.
Still, the impending closing of BTC China’s online currency trading operations is a blow to the country’s aspirations to lead the way in the sector. Some two-thirds of all Bitcoin issued daily is “mined” in China, and an array of other companies benefit from such efforts, including equipment suppliers and construction firms that build enormous Bitcoin farms.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/business/china-bitcoin-exchange.html
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