Perspectives on Bitcoin's regulatory escalation in China

Following the most recent decisions of the central government of China regarding the prohibition of Initial Coin Offers (ICOs) and the order to close exchange houses located in its territory, the bitcoiner community and some media have suggested the possibility that the authorities may take new decisions affecting other areas associated with cryptoactives during 2017, beyond the exchange and capitalization scheme, but even mining, through

But what would happen in a scenario of China's total ban on cryptoactives? The question is not a trivial one, because in social networks such as Reddit or Twitter the debate has taken on relevance, and despite the fact that there has been no official confirmation, users and great figures of the ecosystem are beginning to value total suspension in China as a tangible possibility.

Let us remember that at the end of August, just before the Chinese government decided to ban ICOs, there was a wave of rumours about tighter restrictions, which ended up being enforced, something that some of the people who talk about the ban have emphasised. Then, local media specialized in finance, claimed that the authorities did not rule out any scenarios, including the possibility of banning ICOs, which ended up happening.

RUMOR' WELL AVIATIONED AND THE DANGEROUS THREAT TO MINING

In the media, the handling of information is still airtight, no one confirms anything and there is talk of sources "familiar with the subject","people from within", despite the fact that the possibility suggested in an article published by the Wall Street Journal has been widely disseminated.

There, author Chao Deng - who was sent a query about his sources without receiving an answer before the publication of this article - said that according to "sources close to the authorities," China would be planning to take stricter measures around the circulation of cryptoactives, bureaux de change and even mining. According to the newspaper, the Chinese could adopt a complete ban on channels for buying or selling cryptoactives in China, including international and global exchange activities - a decision that would go further in the government's goal of better controlling the financial activities taking place on its territory.

Some measures in this sense could be, according to this article, to block access to exchange houses operating abroad such as Coinbase, Bitfinex or Localbitcoins from central internet access in the country, including access to the web version, the App and its API interfaces. This coincided with the recent dissemination of "working papers" - still unconfirmed - specifying some of these measures.

As for mining, the Chinese government could block access to Bitcoin nodes on the primary output router and eventually, through DPI recognition, they could discard the Bitcoin block synchronization data on the main firewall. Australia's Australian newspaper Australia's Financial Review (AFR) reported that sources close to Huobi said its founder, Li Lin, was obliged to "inform the authorities and cooperate with their work at any time," including a ban on the departure of senior executives associated with this important ecosystem activity. The information was also confirmed by Beijing News, which furthermore claimed that other executives had also been required to "collaborate" with the investigation.

Beyond the strange handling of sources and the reference to veiled actors, it is worth asking what the interests of the media, and especially the WSJ newspaper, might be with regard to the dissemination of such delicate and unconfirmed information, and which follow the line of attacks against the main cryptoactive of the ecosystem, such as the statements made by JP Morgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, which could result in negative variations in the price of

GOVERNMENT MEASURES COULD HARM CHINESE BITCOINERS

Beyond the impact it could have on the ecosystem and the behaviour of the global market, the Chinese government's decision to close down the activities associated with cryptoactives could have a negative influence on its own interests, as the Asian country would be isolating itself from an important financial ecosystem, turning its back on the exponential growth that has been achieved by the market capitalization of Bitcoin and other cryptomonedas.

Chinese users who currently enjoy an important market position and a specific weight in terms of the impact of their commercial activities on the behaviour of cryptoactives would see their influence diminish significantly. Again, China, as in the 16th century with the application of Haijin, would turn its back on a major economic milestone.

This has been a view shared by Charlie Lee, from Litecoin's team and renowned ecosystem entrepreneur, who via Twitter said that the ban on the Asian giant could be good news:"China can no longer play with the markets by banning Bitcoin. The] Cryptomoney cannot be killed by any country,"he posted on his Twitter social network account.

The discussion has reached Reddit, where users have weighed up what would happen in a scenario of complete closure of cryptoactive activities in Chinese soil, assuring that one of Bitcoin's main characteristics and cryptomonitoring in general is its resilience, which added to the decentralization that they have been building, supposes that they will maintain the success and current growth, in spite of China's regulatory and control decisions.

Although it has been interpreted as the "war", because it is the first time a government has taken things so far, some have understood that it is a wake-up call for the community, to unite efforts around the network and its current characteristics, where the total exit of miners in China will have a significant but not deadly impact on the currency.

THE LEGAL EMPOWER IN CHINA AND IRRUPTION OF JAPAN

Let us remember that China has taken a series of regulatory measures that have had an impact on the market that seek to provide greater levels of government control over the circulation of cryptoactives in Chinese territory. Following the warning of greater and more rigid regulations, September has been a critical period in legal terms in the country.

The escalation of regulations began on September 15, when the Chinese central authorities decided to ban ICOs, after analyzing the data of this financing scheme that had already raised more than 65 million dollars during 2017, something that was understood as anomalous and potentially harmful to the authorities.

Following this, the leading Financial Risk Reparation Group in Beijing ordered the closure of several major cryptoactive exchange houses in the country, causing uncertainty in the market, users and the country's thriving ecosystem. BTCC was joined by ViaBTC, Yunbi and YoBTC, then OkCoin and Huobi, and by the end of the month activities of this type will be completely suspended in Chinese soil.

After the measures and rumors, Japan has been the country that has positioned itself in a better way in the face of the crisis, and now, after China's ban, it has positioned itself as the largest market in terms of cryptoactive circulation, with 50.75% of the global market.