A lot of people seem to be missing the point. The recent PBOC activity isn't about Bitcoin.
It's about money laundering and the outflow of capital from their country. They have strict limits on foreign exchange for individuals.
They just want to make it more difficult than simply depositing yuan in an exchange, buying large amounts of bitcoins, and then withdrawing them to a foreign exchange and converting them to USD, EUR, etc.
Can you blame them?
I don't quite get it - are you agreeing with my analysis or disagreeing? On the surface it looks like you mean me when you write people are missing the point - then you state exactly where my theory starts - PBOC wants to stop money outflows - and to do that they need to stop BTC outflows, because BTC is money. Then I present a speculation how they could do that.
I'm basically agreeing with you.
It's just that some people seem to think there's an anti-Bitcoin aspect to the PBOC's actions. Some have even gone so far as suggesting that they're trying to manipulate the price. Others have talked about shutting down smaller exchanges, miners, and even retailers who accept Bitcoin. These are the people I'm referring to.
I agree with your basic analysis of the PBOC's moves to date. What they've done so far has gone a long way to AML/KYC identification.
As for the speculative part, I find your idea of registered wallets interesting but actual implementation could be difficult. They seem to welcome Bitcoin production and domestic use. Registered wallets might impede that if they're too tightly controlled.
Obviously, owner identity of every registered wallet could be used when tracking coins on the blockchain that end up in foreign exchanges, but coins can be tumbled before going to those exchanges. As long as they keep a tight rein on the identities of exchange users, they probably don't need the bureacratic nightmare of registered wallets. The exchanges' wallets would serve as registered wallets.
I don't think they'll go after miners. They represent domestic product, which although relatively small, still helps their country. Besides, miners don't represent that large of a threat of capital outflow nor money laundering. The majority of bitcoins have already been mined.
Just my opinion, of course.
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As for your poll, I voted "later this week". They aren't done yet. There are still lots of smaller exchanges to be brought onside and lots of planning to be done. It might take them a while to figure out how to handle this.