The View | Bitcoin assault shows no target is too small for China
In an ironic twist, bitcoin may not be issued by any government, but it is effectively under control of the world’s most powerful single-party system
Anyone wondering how serious China is about stemming the outflows that brought its currency reserves to their lowest since February 2011 need only to look at bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency has plunged more than 18 per cent since January 4, as news began to leak that it had attracted the attention of regulators in China. The Shanghai branch of the People’s Bank of China and the city’s financial office met with bitcoin exchange executives and admonished them to deal with “abnormal fluctuations” in prices, according to a central bank statement on Friday. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has also scrutinised several bitcoin platforms to understand how the digital currency can be used to transfer assets overseas, QQ.com reported.
Two days before the string of warnings, bitcoin had hit $1,140, close to its highest level ever, before closing the day at $1,091.
It’s unclear how widespread the use of bitcoin is to circumvent China’s rules on moving money offshore. What is clear is that, for all the claims of bitcoin being free from the shackles of any central authority, Beijing holds a lot of influence over it.
China is home to two-thirds of bitcoin mining power and 98 per cent of trades in the past six months were conducted using yuan. The irony should not escape bitcoin’s libertarian cheerleaders: The currency may not be issued by any government but is effectively under the control of the world’s most powerful single-party system.
