The government of the People’s Republic of China has been in the news again for banning cryptocurrency and related activities in the country.
Early hours of the day, a publication from Bloomberg went live and has attracted huge attention owing to its content that crypto related ventures and activities have been banned in the communist nation of China.
Bloomberg wasn’t the only media that has taken this up. The internet is filled with articles about the China ban on all cryptocurrency related activities in the country and which also deem illegal any oversea cryptocurrency business offering services to people in China.
A simple google search on the internet will show that China has been “banning” cryptocurrency for as long as long. The recent publication taken by top media corporations was published a statement made over a week ago by the Chinese government concerning cryptocurrency and all related endeavours.
The statement by the People’s Republic of China read that “Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities. Carrying out legal currency and virtual currency exchange business, exchange business between virtual currencies, buying and selling virtual currencies as a central counterparty, providing information intermediary and pricing services for virtual currency transactions, token issuance financing, virtual currency derivatives transactions and other virtual currency related Business activities suspected of illegal sale of tokens and tickets, unauthorized public issuance of securities, illegal operation of futures business, illegal fund-raising and other illegal financial activities are strictly prohibited and resolutely banned in accordance with the law. Those who carry out related illegal financial activities constitute a crime shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.”
Over the years, China has commented on the activities of cryptocurrency businesses and citizens participation in the currency market. In 2013, China restricted financial institutions from handling Bitcoin trades and declared Bitcoin an illegal tender. In 2014, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, BTC38, halted acceptance of deposits following the government clampdown on cryptocurrency.
As Initial Coin Offering began seeing great attention globally in the cryptocurrency space, the Chinese government announced a ban on ICO and prevented financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions.
This year, the government came for Bitcoin Miners which saw miners move on to other friendly jurisdictions such as the United States and as a result of its aggression towards crypto, the first crypto exchange in China BTCC shut down its crypto related business.
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The latest publication from China is not a new ban; rather, it was a reiteration of the 2017 ban on cryptocurrency activities. China is a huge country with over 1 billion people population and it is no doubt it has great influence on the cryptocurrency market. Each time a news comes out from China, the market always reacts and this is due to its strategic position as a global power.
Has China banned cryptocurrency again? No. But why the massive PR around China’s banning of cryptocurrency? The answer is, this is crypto. It is the wide wild west. Anything is possible.
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