Bitcoin proves hard to kill in China

[irfanmalik04]

Over-the-counter market for cryptocurrency grows after authorities close exchanges.
Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand. Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

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[GreatOrchid]

Obviously that it is hard to exterminate all those bitcoins who are still on China, it is almost impossible because bitcoins are still untreaceble, and there is no way to discover who is really owning them without a good trace of the funds.
But why are they trying to do it? i dont understand why the whole government is trying to stop those who are using bitcoins, because it makes no sense, they applied a regulation for the icos, far as i know, they didn't had any problem with bitcoin, nothing more than the exchanges, and this is why they closed all of them.

[kram31]

even you put fence on your garden and it is adoring and people want to get in they will just go over it, like what china did to bitcoin they didnt putthe great wall on it it is just a kid zone fence which its people will find a way to execute and will pprobably do the same way like before, though if china will resist and continue fight bitcoin some of its citizen will just fly to other country and continue doing bitcoin as it is a good source of profit and willl give such big money in return and for their own sake of savings .

[soham]

It is very hard to completely eradicate the usage of bitcoin from an over populated country like China. If people are not able to use bitcoin in a legal way, they will obviously use black market. The loss is for the government. They could have provided a proper legal framework to the Chinese bitcoin users to take them under a taxing environment. This would have helped the government to earn the tax revenue and the users would have got the legal status. Government is loosing on the both ways.

[bamboylee]

That is the strength of a decentralized cryptocurrency, it cannot be controlled, banned or stopped. It is a myth that governments can stop bitcoin, this is a good example. Aside from over the counter transactions, a decentralized exchange can also be created to combat closure of centralized bitcoin exchanges.

[Reid]

They just banned the trading platform but it can be done thru p2p. Wise Chinese people who does that.
I guess it wont be stop to the extent that it is exterminated.
Maybe a visit to China will be a good business if you have a lot of bitcoin in your wallet.
Are they accepting 20 percent more to the recent price? 

[Welsh]

China's government are known for trying to control it's citizens through various means, it's never stopped the Chinese citizens though. I guess they are used to the government trying to limit what they can do and Bitcoin isn't any different.

Especially if they are already invested in Bitcoin, they aren't just going to stop and will find a way around it.

[makishart]

That is the strength of a decentralized cryptocurrency, it cannot be controlled, banned or stopped. It is a myth that governments can stop bitcoin, this is a good example. Aside from over the counter transactions, a decentralized exchange can also be created to combat closure of centralized bitcoin exchanges.

The china may realize it now, The decentralized thing is very strong system, which run by a lot of the person. They are keeping the network still run with a lot of nodes, The network can't be breakable. But the main thing about the bitcoin still pegged on the centralized exchange that means the centralized exchange site is too weak against the regulators.
That becomes the main concern. Because there is no decentralized exchange which contain a lot of trade volume.

[worldofcoins]

Obviously that it is hard to exterminate all those bitcoins who are still on China, it is almost impossible because bitcoins are still untreaceble, and there is no way to discover who is really owning them without a good trace of the funds.
But why are they trying to do it? i dont understand why the whole government is trying to stop those who are using bitcoins, because it makes no sense, they applied a regulation for the icos, far as i know, they didn't had any problem with bitcoin, nothing more than the exchanges, and this is why they closed all of them.

Its not only untraceable but since we have services like Bitcoin mixers there is no way in hell they can stop it.   Also if someone from china travels to USA they can convert it to fiat.  So they are going to waste time and money trying to stop it.  Also I said in one post earlier, that since there Korean buddies are buying it and Russia, are they really gonna risky getting left behind in this new money.

[stompix]

Over-the-counter market for cryptocurrency grows after authorities close exchanges.
Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand. Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

It's nice to also put the source when you start a thread

https://www.ft.com/content/d576e4e4-c374-11e7-a1d2-6786f39ef675

Full article:

   Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand. Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

“The situation with China’s exchanges has pushed more of its trading over the counter, where there is a fairly robust and liquid market,” said John Riggins, head of Asia operations for BTC Media, a fintech information platform.

Chinese investors are also using mobile messaging platforms to connect, negotiating bilateral trades without the help of an exchange. Many OTC bitcoin transactions originally used WeChat, Tencent’s ubiquitous mobile messaging. However, concern about surveillance has driven many traders to Telegram, an encrypted platform that boasts greater security.

However, the clampdown is proving more challenging for bitcoin miners, who had flocked to China’s hinterland in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, where cheap electricity can power rows of computers creating bitcoin.

China’s OTC market is not yet liquid enough to allow bitcoin miners to facilitate the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars of newly-minted bitcoin each day, market observers say.


Bitcoin endures in China


“There are a lot of questions about the future of the Chinese miners, given that they still need to pay for staff and operations in renminbi,” said Thomas Glucksman, head of marketing for Gatecoin, a bitcoin exchange and ICO underwriter in Hong Kong. “It’s either a case of migrating their operations or facilitating renminbi cash-out through the OTC market.”

Initial coin offerings are still being marketed, though the obstacles facing Chinese investors wanting to take part are now larger. In principle, Chinese investors who already own bitcoin or ethereum, a rival cryptocurrency, can still buy into an ICO on a foreign platform. But many overseas ICO platforms have strengthened know-your-client requirements to avoid running afoul of mainland regulators, while some have deleted Chinese-language versions of their websites.

The Chinese ban on ICOs has also generated some additional short-term demand for bitcoin as ICO sponsors moved to comply with the government’s order.

“All ICO teams in China should return funds as bitcoin or ethereum to their investors. So demand is high,” said Sandy Liang, operating director in Hong Kong for Bitcan, a bitcoin wallet, news and price quotation app.

One thing to note is that the ban on ICO has made a few platforms to avoid Chinese investors so the effect is there.

Back to bitcoin, there was no attack on bitcoin, the government never tried to kill bitcoin. So I don't understand why anyone should be surprised of the current situation.
There was no plan to shut down all exchanges.
The plan was regulation and having them comply with the laws , especially with anti laundering.
Huobi is still up and running for example.

[Miderian]

Government are pushed to take down crypto.
They are scared and they don't want to lose their money.
They can't do anything

[HasHe]

Definitely,it must be a lesson to other countries who try to just follow china and ban crypto currencies and ICOs.Is surprising to see that china being a powerful state struggling to control crypto currency trade.Bitcoin trading is still going fine in china and chinese officials are helpless in this matter.The only people who are suffering a little is the bitcoin miners who could not sell their freshly mined bitcoins in the market easily as before and it takes a little bit more time to sell.

[Images21]

Bitcoin is hard to kill not just in china but all over the world. It is because Bitcoin is undying. The support of the people will live forever and thus Bitcoin too. It has experienced countless deaths but it remains alive. 

[machinek20]

It is not that easy to kill bitcoin, there are a lot of supports that want to used bitcoin, because bitcoin offered something that makes all people like to used it, the china government is trying to control bitcoin and as we all predicted it, bitcoin stay decentralized

[Warkop]

I think Bitcoin without their country will stay alive, because Bitcoin has shown how it works easily and greatly helps everyone with their economy to be good in all countries, so it is very unlikely they will close Bitcoin. I think this is just a cunning brain from the Chinese government, maybe they just make trouble and they want everyone to throw Bitcoin and Bitcoin the price will go down then they will buy it cheaply.

[jseverson]

That's hilarious. You would have thought that the threat of being charged with an illegal activity would be enough to dissuade people from being involved with ICOs and exchanges, especially on a country with a less than stellar record on human rights. I guess I underestimated the Chinese people lol. Still, everything has moved underground so no one can really say that regulations are useless. I'm sure most of the smaller holders have stopped doing business altogether.

Chinese investors are also using mobile messaging platforms to connect, negotiating bilateral trades without the help of an exchange. Many OTC bitcoin transactions originally used WeChat, Tencent’s ubiquitous mobile messaging. However, concern about surveillance has driven many traders to Telegram, an encrypted platform that boasts greater security.

Why do they need to hide? Only exchanges are banned as far as Bitcoins go right? Trading with other people should still be perfectly legal.

[susuberuang]

Over-the-counter market for cryptocurrency grows after authorities close exchanges.
Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand. Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

very clear china is a developed and developing country how can china destroy bitcoin, bitcoin is a highly desired digital currency in various worlds.

[Singwala]

China can not really stop the Bitcoin activities in their country. Because they find it difficult to trace the people who hold it. So even though they announced they were banned and it was nothing. It's just like drugs in their country It's hard to find especially when there are peer-to-peer colleagues in the government. So we expect more to lift its price now of bitcoins over the next few years.

[Guzztsar]

China's government are known for trying to control it's citizens through various means, it's never stopped the Chinese citizens though. I guess they are used to the government trying to limit what they can do and Bitcoin isn't any different.

Especially if they are already invested in Bitcoin, they aren't just going to stop and will find a way around it.

They use some measures to control their citizens that we can barely believe.
If China can't get rid of bitcoin, no one else can.
In the long runl, this might be good for btc

[GreenBits]

Over-the-counter market for cryptocurrency grows after authorities close exchanges.
Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand. Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

Its not in Chinas best interest to ban bitcoin, ever. China doesnt like to give up technological advantages; in fact the majority of state sponsored spy activity targets stealing emerging technologies from corporations in foreign countries. So to give up the mining advantage would be pretty dumb, and not really that attractive to boot. They will and have, however, started regulating the shit out of cryptos, to ensure all that newfound wealth doesnt spirit its way across the borders Consumer protection blah blah blah, this is about capital flight, plain and simple.

Russia is doing bigly with cryptos atm