China blocks cryptocurrency! Netizens Wail: Causing My Coin Value to Dive Faster than a Building

Following Inner Mongolia’s announcement to ban cryptocurrency mining and shut down all mining projects, the Chinese Communist government further blocked private cryptocurrencies and banned domestic financial and payment institutions from starting related businesses, sparking heated debate among Chinese netizens, with some wailing that “the (value of) cryptocurrency is jumping faster than a building” once the announcement was made.

China’s three major regulators (China Internet Finance Association, China Banking Association and China Payment and Settlement Association) issued a joint statement, saying that the recent sharp rise and fall in the price of cryptocurrencies is obviously suspected of speculation, which has seriously infringed on people’s property security and disturbed the normal economic and financial order.

The regulator pointed out that this kind of currency is not issued by the monetary authority, has no real value to support it, and does not have the properties that money should have such as legality and compulsion, so it is not a real currency and should not and cannot be used as currency in circulation in the market.

Therefore, financial institutions, payment institutions and other units are not allowed to conduct cryptocurrency-related businesses, including providing registration/trading/clearing/settlement/storage/escrow/collateralization/insurance services for customers’ cryptocurrencies, accepting payments in cryptocurrencies, opening up customers to exchange cryptocurrencies for foreign currencies, issuing cryptocurrency-related financial products, and using cryptocurrencies as the investment underlying of trusts or funds.

The announcement was widely circulated on Weibo, sparking heated debates among Chinese netizens, with supporters saying, “The red line has been drawn, so it’s forbidden to cross it! Ordinary investors who are still addicted to virtual coins should understand the good intention of the regulation or relevant departments and organizations.” But some people said, “I seriously doubt that these people are shorting,” and netizens who have already invested in the market said helplessly, “Bitcoin market? I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get a good deal. Once the document was issued, the value of the currency jumped even faster than it jumped from a building”, and some people thought hard “In the context of the strict foreign exchange management, especially in non-trade items, the foreign exchange management is almost harsh, (the announcement) was it found that financial payment institutions had carried out cryptocurrency business before?”