China is mobilizing all means to crack down on cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) such as Bitcoin.
China has not only banned Bitcoin mining at the central government level, but also instructed the central bank to hold a meeting with commercial banks and pursue transactions, and Δ block social media accounts of influential people who advocate cryptocurrencies. I am using all possible means.
◇ Mining ban by the central government : Sichuan, the holy city of bitcoin mining, immediately ordered the closure of the bitcoin mining companies in the province on the 18th.
This is interpreted as a follow-up to the central government’s ban on bitcoin trading and mining last month. On the 21st of last month, Deputy Prime Minister Liu He announced a ban on mining as well as bitcoin trading.
The Global Times, the English version of the Global Times, reported on the 21st that as of the 20th, 90% of the mining companies in China were closed as Sichuan Province ordered the closure of 26 bitcoin mining companies in the province on the 18th.
As the central government’s measures are transmitted to the provinces, Bitcoin miners are packing their bags one after another.
◇ Central bank transaction ban ‘Wetan’ : Chinese authorities also called major commercial banks to implement ‘Wetan’ and urged them to take action on all Bitcoin-related activities.
Wetan is a public ‘gathering of the flag’ in China, where the state control is strong, in which a government agency summons officials of a supervised institution to publicly rebuke and communicate their demands.
China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, on the 21st called Alipay, a payment service operated by Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Group, and executives from major commercial banks to enforce the wetan and demand a complete ban on cryptocurrency (virtual currency)-related transactions. .
The People’s Bank of China has instructed commercial banks to conduct thorough checks on customers’ accounts to identify those involved in cryptocurrency transactions, and, if found, to immediately block payment channels and expunge those accounts.
Commercial banks participating in Wetan made a separate statement on the same day that they would conduct due diligence on all customers to eradicate illegal cryptocurrency-related activities and close suspicious accounts.
◇ SNS account blocking : In addition, China blocked the account of the Bitcoin influencer on Weibo (China’s Twitter) to prevent the second Musk from appearing. Weibo blocked dozens of cryptocurrency influencers’ accounts on the 6th.
Chinese authorities also blocked searches on Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Hoobby on search engines Baidu and Weibo.
◇ Preliminary suspension work ahead of the launch of the digital yuan : The reason why China is blocking cryptocurrency transactions by all means is interpreted to be for the ‘digital yuan’, which is scheduled to be officially launched in February next year.
China is planning to issue a digital yuan that guarantees payment by the state in celebration of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year, and use the digital yuan to challenge dollar hegemony in trade settlements, etc. To this end, they are actively seeking cryptocurrency transactions that are an obstacle to this.
