I'm in China, and I have a local colleague in the office with me who has been helping with some Bitcoin things. We talked about events today at length, and I'll share here:
This is what he told me he read in this morning's press:
BTC-China 'heard' that financial institutions had been asked to cease providing/receiving cash for the exchange, so BTCC called around. According to the press someone at Tenpay confirmed to BTCC that government officials had told them they are not to transmit cash to BTCC during/after Chinese New Year - I don't know the exact date but roughly around end-Jan. BTCC made similar calls to the banks but they declined to confirm or deny anything on the matter. But generally the understanding is that government officials have notifified all financial institutions not to accept/send cash to BTCC - we assume the directive is also effective for all other alt-currency exchanges.
I will also share his thoughts, from a local perspective:
The move was driven by a desire/perceived need to control capital flows. My own view is that recent terrorist events, and well as recent regulatory moves overseas, also prompted this move by China's govenment. (Some may not be aware, but recently there have been several 'terrorist' attacks by persecuted Muslim groups. That is a whole 'nother, lets not start. I can confirm, however, that security at airports has tightened noticeably.)
As to the question of 'what comes next' he's of the view that the excange(s) won't be forced to close per se, and BTC cannot/will not be made illegal. He likened it to Porn on the web. Government can ban it, and do all it can to restrict it, but anyone who makes the effort can find it. My colleague said BTC trading will continue - but in what form and manner remains to be seen. We agreed that BTCC is going to have to either find a way to allow deposits/withdrawals, or somehow restructure its business.
As for arb / money flow opportunities, Chinese can get assets/cash to HK pretty easily, so there should be a robust arb between HK and BTCC, and BTC/value may flow into the BTCC exchange in that way.
My 2.
Thank you very much for this information. It would be very helpful if you could add more as and when you hear.
Could I ask you to confirm whether or not people can make deposits from their banks directly into their BTCC accounts? Sorry if this question has already been answered but the current understanding here seems to be that while third-party payment providers cannot deal with any Bitcoin-related activities, citizens may still fund their BTCC accounts directly from their own bank account if they wish.
+1
I would also like to have this clarified.
