New bitcoin nodes popping up in Asia

[Litt]

I've been keeping my eye on this site http://www.blockchain.info/nodes-globe?series=48hrs where they show the active nodes in the past 48hrs for a few months now.

What I've been seeing is that there are many new nodes appearing in Asia in the past two months where it was nearly completely dark.

Will 2012 be the year that the giants like China and India among other countries start embracing bitcoin? One thing for sure is that the news of bitcoin is definitely spreading into these area.
The bars at Beijing, Seoul, and Taipei have been growing fast and small bars have been appearing all over the Southeast Asia as well as India.

It will be really exciting to see new exchanges and services appear in these area in 2012.

[cypherdoc]

thanks for bringing this up.  i hadn't looked at that for quite a while.  it really broadens ones perspective and makes me remember just how much potential Bitcoin has.

[Mark Oates]

Cool.  A relative of mine lives in China, they sent me an email saying CNN out of hong kong had showed a positive piece on bitcoin.  That was several months ago, though.

[istar]

I remember a few big chinese newspapers had articles on bitcoin on their economy pages.
Ofcourse there is a difference between an article and real usage.
Though I wonder how well known they are in India. 

[StewartJ]

Speaking of Asia, I've invested in a Bitcoin mining venture based in Thailand. They are listed on the GLBSE.

Shares are paying excellent dividends and future prospects look great.

[phatsphere]

India. 

most likely there is the same problem as there is in africa: the internet is rather bad. apps like bitcoin spinner are the only way to go there, in the foreseeable future.

[evoorhees]

Every time someone posts a link to that amazing globe I'm renewed with awe and inspired at the system we're all building.

tl;dr - how fucking cool is that globe?!?!

[bitcool]

Knowing Chinese government's style, it probably will be the first regime banning bitcoin; that will be greatly positive to the rest of the world and an important milestone in bitcoin history, just like 1989.

[zhoutong]

Knowing Chinese government's style, it probably will be the first regime banning bitcoin; that will be greatly positive to the rest of the world and an important milestone in bitcoin history, just like 1989.

They won't be the first. China has much less money laundering issues compared to US due to constant currency controls. The government doesn't have a need to ban Bitcoin at all.

Also, the e-commerce industry in China is similar to Bitcoin's. There's no chargeback in the financial systems. The main trades are escrows, even if the consumer is paying by credit card. The bank usually only deals with chargeback through Visa or MasterCard, but not the Chinese payment network UniPay.

Bitcoin has the taste of Chinese financials.

[Crypt_Current]

Knowing Chinese government's style, it probably will be the first regime banning bitcoin; that will be greatly positive to the rest of the world and an important milestone in bitcoin history, just like 1989.

They won't be the first. China has much less money laundering issues compared to US due to constant currency controls. The government doesn't have a need to ban Bitcoin at all.

Also, the e-commerce industry in China is similar to Bitcoin's. There's no chargeback in the financial systems. The main trades are escrows, even if the consumer is paying by credit card. The bank usually only deals with chargeback through Visa or MasterCard, but not the Chinese payment network UniPay.

Bitcoin has the taste of Chinese financials.

+1

[julz]

I've been watching that globe for a while now too.

The number of nodes shown over the past week or so seems to be way down on what it was a while back.
Not sure if it's related to the holiday period, a genuine dropoff in nodes, or technical issues with the way blockchain collects the data.

In particular I have noticed quite a jump in the number and size of the dots/spikes showing up in Japan.  For a while Japan looked woefully under-represented, but I think we're finally starting to get some interest there.

[Mark Oates]

Does the glove update live if I just leave it open?

[Matthew N. Wright]

If you see any spikes in Korea, you'll know who to blame.

저는 한국비트코인협회 대표입니다.

[bitcool]

Does this sound familiar?
"Four government agencies coordinate in banning Q-coin/RMB exchange"
http://www.spforum.net/xinwen/?58359.html
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spforum.net%2Fxinwen%2F%3F58359.html

Knowing Chinese government's style, it probably will be the first regime banning bitcoin; that will be greatly positive to the rest of the world and an important milestone in bitcoin history, just like 1989.

They won't be the first. China has much less money laundering issues compared to US due to constant currency controls. The government doesn't have a need to ban Bitcoin at all.

Also, the e-commerce industry in China is similar to Bitcoin's. There's no chargeback in the financial systems. The main trades are escrows, even if the consumer is paying by credit card. The bank usually only deals with chargeback through Visa or MasterCard, but not the Chinese payment network UniPay.

Bitcoin has the taste of Chinese financials.

[Matthew N. Wright]

Bitcoin has the taste of Chinese financials.

Maybe Satoshi Nakimoto's real name is Mei ling.

[cbeast]

Does this sound familiar?
"Four government agencies coordinate in banning Q-coin/RMB exchange"
http://www.spforum.net/xinwen/?58359.html
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spforum.net%2Fxinwen%2F%3F58359.html

Yup, sounds a lot like the e-gold fiasco.

[zhoutong]

Does this sound familiar?
"Four government agencies coordinate in banning Q-coin/RMB exchange"
http://www.spforum.net/xinwen/?58359.html
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spforum.net%2Fxinwen%2F%3F58359.html

Yup, sounds a lot like the e-gold fiasco.

The action is similar, but the purpose is entirely different.

Gambling is illegal in China, except for state-owned lotteries. But gambling using e-currency, such as Q-coin is legal, because it can be classified as online entertainment not involving "real" money.

If Q-coin/RMB exchange is permitted, then there's no difference between online entertainment and illegal gambling.

Also, Q-coin is not like Bitcoin at all. Q-coin is solely issued by Tencent, and its only purpose is to purchase Tencent value-added services for entertainment. It's more like casino chips rather than e-gold or Bitcoin.

Note that Tencent is a large corporation (largest in Chinese Internet industry) and it's likely to attract a lot of attention from the government. Big corporations are usually participants in law-making too. Don't forget that it's in Tencent's interest to ban Q-coin/RMB exchange, because newbies will have to buy Q-coin from Tencent. A dozen of small Bitcoin businesses will be an entirely different story.

EDIT: Remember, Q-coin is completely legal in China and its owner is fully licensed to operate this virtual currency. Tencent has 1 billion active QQ accounts, that will make Q-coin the most popular virtual currency in the world.

So, China has

- The most similar and compatible e-commerce system (escrow instead of chargeback)
- The most established virtual currency industry and culture (over 98% adoption among netizens)
- The real need to unify currency with US (the CNY trade surplus is always pulling Chinese export economy back)

[bitcool]

The action is similar, but the purpose is entirely different.
Gambling is illegal in China, except for state-owned lotteries. But gambling using e-currency, such as Q-coin is legal, because it can be classified as online entertainment not involving "real" money.
If Q-coin/RMB exchange is permitted, then there's no difference between online entertainment and illegal gambling.

Online gambling is also illegal in US, same logic US should have banned Linden dollar and WOW gold also.

Also, Q-coin is not like Bitcoin at all. Q-coin is solely issued by Tencent, and its only purpose is to purchase Tencent value-added services for entertainment. It's more like casino chips rather than e-gold or Bitcoin.
Note that Tencent is a large corporation (largest in Chinese Internet industry) and it's likely to attract a lot of attention from the government.

On the other hand, Chinese government feels much more comfortable dealing with corporations and they are VERY scared of any unsanctioned grassroot movement, because they don't know how to deal with it, banning it is their first instinct.

Big corporations are usually participants in law-making too. Don't forget that it's in Tencent's interest to ban Q-coin/RMB exchange, because newbies will have to buy Q-coin from Tencent.

I can't believe any company would willingly give up the power of becoming a pseudo central bank and literally minting money on their own.

So, China has
- The most similar and compatible e-commerce system (escrow instead of chargeback)

I failed to see how this will make Chinese government more bitcoin-friendly. It may just as well give them excuse not needing to use bitcoin.

- The most established virtual currency industry and culture (over 98% adoption among netizens)

Virtual currency? without covertability, you meant online game token?

- The real need to unify currency with US (the CNY trade surplus is always pulling Chinese export economy back)

They don't want to use USD b/c US controls the issuance;
they don't want to use gold b/c they failed to accumulate enough of it;
they don't want to use bitcoin because its philosophy is total against their central-planning and totalitarian dogma.
What they really want is IMF (SDR), one world currency, and one world government.