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posted by janrinok on Sunday September 17 2017, @03:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the man-wants-his-cut dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow5743

When the Chinese government announced a ban on initial coin offerings last week, it looked like an attempt to rein in the speculative excesses of the cryptocurrency economy. But now it seems like it might have been the start of something more ambitious: a coordinated campaign to shut down use of cryptocurrency in the Middle Kingdom.

The full extent of the Chinese crackdown isn't clear yet, in part because key decisions have only been communicated privately to Chinese Bitcoin exchanges. But a couple of Bitcoin exchanges have now announced that they are shutting down. And leaked documents suggest that the rest will be required to do so before the end of the month. Chinese users will be given a chance to withdraw their funds before the exchanges shut down.

"BTCChina encourages customers to withdraw their funds as quickly as possible," one of the exchanges wrote in a Friday tweet. "Customers can withdraw their funds whenever they want."

Bitcoin has always been something of an awkward fit for China, which strictly regulates financial markets and limits the flow of funds overseas. Chinese officials have apparently concluded that Bitcoin has become too popular as a way to circumvent those regulations.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/09/china-may-be-getting-ready-to-ban-bitcoin/


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 17 2017, @11:00PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 17 2017, @11:00PM (#569516)

    It is easy to move cash into China.

    If you have BTC in China in your own wallet, that cash is effectively already out of China.
    Having the BTC gives the option of bringing it back in, or not.

    Why would one want to convert to cash inside China?
    Instead, convert outside and then you can bring the cash in if you need it?

    This seems a mixed blessing for the value of BTC.
    There may be some demand to cash out, but it also shows a value in a more independent form of value.
    Should be interesting to see what happens next.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2017, @12:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2017, @12:25PM (#569722)

    It might be an incentive to use BTC for the intended use, as a form of payment, as it will be essentially the only way to get BTC while inside China. OTOH, it might be that China also will crack down on BTC payments by simply blocking client connections.