Bitcoin full page on one of South China's most read weekly newspapers.

[Nefario]

Article is here:

http://www.infzm.com/content/61130


Google Translated:

http://translate.google.ie/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infzm.com%2Fcontent%2F61130

Overall a fairly balanced article, good journalism actually. I've bought the paper and it's a full broadsheet page.

[jimbobway]

Nice...thx for posting this.

[Herodes]

James came to China two years ago, taught at a college in Jiangxi Province. He started from October 2010 I heard a bit money, and start using, it should be the first in China to use bits of money people. The computer to start his own mining, a week dug 1000-bit coin. Open all day because his wife complained about the noise the computer too much, he did not continue, but the focus turned to the bit-currency transactions.

Women.. Hehe.

People who bit money involved in the project, apart from geeks, and some from the financial industry. John Matt Nice (Jon Matonis) was VISA's chief foreign exchange trader, now a bit-currency advocates.

Sounds like a good man for the bitcoin community.

Blog: http://themonetaryfuture.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jonmatonis

According to his twitter:

Former CEO of Hushmail and Head Currency Trader at VISA. Editor of The Monetary Future economics blog.

Apparently he was thinking of ideas like bitcoin before bitcoin were made:

http://everyjoe.com/work/the-essentials-of-digital-cash-with-jon-matonis-162/

[Bigpiggy01]

Ok based on something like this, I'd say we're going to see a HUGE increase in network hashing capability.

One major problem with that it will probably be massive amounts of messed up stuff and botnet traffic to pools. As the average computer users here has 0 comprehension of stuff like security and following instructions to the letter. These normal users are in STARK contrast to a large group of Chinese users with fantastic tech skills but 0 language skills.

This could be a good chance for someone to make a BTC or two by doing a Chinese language GUI for GUIMINER or something similar.


 

[MrCrabs]

Nice to see. Good post..

[Nefario]

Ok based on something like this, I'd say we're going to see a HUGE increase in network hashing capability.

One major problem with that it will probably be massive amounts of messed up stuff and botnet traffic to pools. As the average computer users here has 0 comprehension of stuff like security and following instructions to the letter. These normal users are in STARK contrast to a large group of Chinese users with fantastic tech skills but 0 language skills.

This could be a good chance for someone to make a BTC or two by doing a Chinese language GUI for GUIMINER or something similar.


 

You know, most Chinese are human, mostly average. It's not like there's an army of uber communazi's here waiting to take over the world only to be held back by their lack of English.

[Herodes]

Does anyone know how the government in China looks at bitcoin yet. Will be see people mysteriously 'vanish' when they're caught mining by the secret police? Will bitcoin.org and other sites be blocked? Perhaps chinese residents getting into bitcoin should take their precautions? I am just saying, the Chinese government is know for having strict control and we all know about 'the great firewall of china'.  Apart from these issues, China surely is a huge market!

[Nefario]

Does anyone know how the government in China looks at bitcoin yet. Will be see people mysteriously 'vanish' when they're caught mining by the secret police? Will bitcoin.org and other sites be blocked? Perhaps chinese residents getting into bitcoin should take their precautions? I am just saying, the Chinese government is know for having strict control and we all know about 'the great firewall of china'.  Apart from these issues, China surely is a huge market!

So right now this news article is probably the first anyone in the government here has heard about it (probably the first most people have heard about it). What will happen is the Central Bank of China will assert it's right to control currency inside the country and ban the acceptance of bitcoin for goods or services.

On a more practical level the bitcoin website is likely to be blocked.

There will be plenty of Chinese people using bitcoin once it catches on, despite a government ban.

There shouldn't be any vanishing as a result of bitcoin use.

[Bigpiggy01]

There is much less control and many fewer restrictions here that actually effect the average users than the media back home would have you believe. The ones in place are generally speaking aimed at porn and political/religious stuff. I've been mining from here for a couple of months now as have several friends of mine and none of us has yet to encounter anything.

I'm fairly certain the government here will never take a "real" position on any of this they'll just want to get in on the mining.
Should the government here ever decide to take a position on this issue I'll post it here immediately. One of the funny things about government positions here is that they vary greatly from province to province so I can at best speak for what's happening in NE China.

China as a whole involving itself in Bitcoins would give an INSANE boost to the BTC economy, there are over 35 million USD millionaires in this country alone and most of them are looking for new and interesting ways to spin a profit.

Btw Nefario there is an all evil malevolent army of uber commie zombie-hackers here waiting to "take on" more than "take over" the world atm they're at unofficial war with Korea over some comments about the ancestry of former "glorious leaders". If they start mining the the trouble with Ddos and issues like that will skyrocket.

[wareen]

You know, most Chinese are human, mostly average. It's not like there's an army of uber communazi's here waiting to take over the world only to be held back by their lack of English.

LOL
I guess you pretty much summed up the western world's sinophobia

China as a whole involving itself in Bitcoins would give an INSANE boost to the BTC economy, there are over 35 million USD millionaires in this country alone and most of them are looking for new and interesting ways to spin a profit.

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

[Piper67]

You know, most Chinese are human, mostly average. It's not like there's an army of uber communazi's here waiting to take over the world only to be held back by their lack of English.

LOL
I guess you pretty much summed up the western world's sinophobia

China as a whole involving itself in Bitcoins would give an INSANE boost to the BTC economy, there are over 35 million USD millionaires in this country alone and most of them are looking for new and interesting ways to spin a profit.

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

The average Chinese may not have the incentive to use Bitcoin, but the Chinese government most certainly does! This is a massive economy that is artificially keeping its own currency devalued. They are mostly self-sufficient, but not 100% by any means, AND they are investing heavily in parts of the world like Africa and South America. Buying a significant stake of BTC, like, say, 2 or 3 million, would instantly give them a hard currency with which to do these things, and in the process drive up its price, granting them control of a devalued currency at home and a deflationary currency abroad.

I'm not sure if there is anyone in the Chinese government looking at this, but I am sure they have very smart people there (as they do everywhere), and at least one of them must have figured this out.

Incidentally, a currency that is backed by nothing should be a good fit with anyone who has lived in a communist system for any length of time, so that will not be an objection. They will instantly see the value in BTC... It's deflationary, uncounterfeitable and can be transacted instantly with anyone with an Internet connection.

I, for one, certainly hopenthe Chinese executive gives this newspaper article to some of their brightest!

[Steve]

Well, there is this 2009 law that would seem to apply to bitcoin:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11610478.htm

I would think at least a few governments would be interested to actually invest in bitcoin as a diversification of their reserves.  For a relatively small amount today, they could establish a decent position in bitcoin and setup a mining operation to help secure the network.  Maybe bitcoin doesn't end up succeeding, on the other hand...

[TraderTimm]

First, thanks to the parent poster for bringing this to our attention.

One item that hasn't been brought up is China's relationship to the U.S.A. I think they would be very interested in bitcoin, because lets face it, this currency is the perfect tool to give the western banking centers a big middle finger. They wouldn't have to worry about negotiated treaties, or any of that. There are no international laws (that I know of) regarding bitcoin explicitly, and if the central banks decide to use it as a tool to kick our banks in the teeth - things will get very interesting around here, quickly.

Guess we'll have to see what unfolds. Thanks also to the "man-on-ground" reports from China, helps us understand how bitcoin is being used, and what the potential government response will be.

[Nefario]

Well, there is this 2009 law that would seem to apply to bitcoin:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11610478.htm

I would think at least a few governments would be interested to actually invest in bitcoin as a diversification of their reserves.  For a relatively small amount today, they could establish a decent position in bitcoin and setup a mining operation to help secure the network.  Maybe bitcoin doesn't end up succeeding, on the other hand...

This article explains exactly why Bitcoin is illegal in China since it's inception.

[edit] Illegal to trade in non-virtual goods also created by the issuer, in bitcoins case there is no central issuer, so it's not illegal to have btc, just to buy anything with it.[/edit]

[RogerR]

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

10+% YoY inflation (official stats!) does sound very sound indeed.

[netrin]

Does anyone know how the government in China looks at bitcoin yet. Will be see people mysteriously 'vanish' when they're caught mining by the secret police? Will bitcoin.org and other sites be blocked? Perhaps chinese residents getting into bitcoin should take their precautions? I am just saying, the Chinese government is know for having strict control and we all know about 'the great firewall of china'.  Apart from these issues, China surely is a huge market!

It's too early to predict how the CPC will look upon Bitcoins. I think it's just as likely the government will buy a massive mining rig as they are to ban it. Consider that the central party actively encourages citizens to buy gold, in fact selling it in banks like the rest of the world buys postage stamps. In any case, China has proven to be very pragmatic about money policy and I expect the govt to take a wait-and-see approach.

I wonder though, if China took a negative stance, could the govt isolate the p2p network (wonder = I don't know)? Couldn't China block the common bitcoin ports?

[LeFBI]

according to google translate the first comments beneath the article are complaints, saying bitcoin is a scam...
conspiracy go go go! did the chinese regime write these comments?

[billyjoeallen]

You know, most Chinese are human, mostly average. It's not like there's an army of uber communazi's here waiting to take over the world only to be held back by their lack of English.

LOL
I guess you pretty much summed up the western world's sinophobia

China as a whole involving itself in Bitcoins would give an INSANE boost to the BTC economy, there are over 35 million USD millionaires in this country alone and most of them are looking for new and interesting ways to spin a profit.

I'm not so sure if the average Chinese has a very high incentive to use Bitcoin - as far as I understand, China's own currency politics is very sound. The large USD stockpilers on the other hand might probably be looking for some alternatives pretty soon...

Chinese currency policy is doomed, just like every other mercantilist/neomercantilist policy has been for 300 years. You may be too young to remember the 1980s, but I do. Everyone was concerned that Japan would overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy. Movies like Rising Sun and Gung Ho were popular. Japan imploded when their artificial suppression of the Yes unwound. The same will happen to China.

The only way China can maintain its trade surplus is buy weakening it's own currency thereby making it's products cheaper.  To do this, they MUST buy dollars or U.S. Treasuries. America is trading worthless IOUs to China for REAL GOODS. China is getting screwed and they are backing into the big American dick.

This will end in disaster, as all central plans do.

[hugolp]

Chinese currency policy is doomed, just like every other mercantilist/neomercantilist policy has been for 300 years. You may be too young to remember the 1980s, but I do. Everyone was concerned that Japan would overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy. Movies like Rising Sun and Gung Ho were popular. Japan imploded when their artificial suppression of the Yes unwound. The same will happen to China.

The only way China can maintain its trade surplus is buy weakening it's own currency thereby making it's products cheaper.  To do this, they MUST buy dollars or U.S. Treasuries. America is trading worthless IOUs to China for REAL GOODS. China is getting screwed and they are backing into the big American dick.

This will end in disaster, as all central plans do.

Yep.

You can alredy see the cracks in the chinese economy, specially in the energy and housing sectors.

[Jaime Frontero]

the thing to keep in mind about china - which hasn't been mentioned on this thread, so far - is that they're no different than any other nation as regards the law.  there are enough laws on the books that any time they want you, they've got you.

in china it's against the law to use cryptography without a nationally issued license.  i recall reading that there are only a few thousand such licenses that have been issued.

that's really the major stumbling block for the success of Bitcoin in china:  you're breaking the law just by installing the client.  and once the client includes wallet encryption by default, it'll make folks in china just that much more wary of Bitcoin.  and make the government that much more wary, as well.

but - that said - they're just reg'lar folks, as Nefario points out.  they'll take their risks for wealth like anybody else.

best of luck to them all, and happy mining.