China Also Cracked down on Bitcoin

Although the Chinese authorities might like market forces, they still don’t want to have a method of payment they can’t control in their own country. It became known that a couple of Bitcoin exchanges dealing in the cyber currency have been forced to suspend bank transfers from citizens depositing yuan to purchase Bitcoins.
One of those exchanges, FXBTC, confirmed that a number of banks had ordered it to close accounts used to take customer deposits, in accordance to the tightened regulations from the country’s Central Bank. It seems that since today all commercial banks and 3rd-party payment platforms have been ordered to close similar services tied to Bitcoin transfers.

One exchange that suffered in the move, BTC38, made a similar announcement, saying that due to the “influence from China’s Central Bank”, the online service had been forced to revoke deposits made via bank transfers.

Actually, this move was expected, because back in March the Chinese government said they wanted to tighten regulations covering the cyber currency. The China’s Central Bank required that all banks and 3rd-party payment firms close accounts operated by online Bitcoin exchanges by April 15.

At the moment, it seems the enforcement is uneven one exchange – BTCTrade.com claimed on its website that it would temporarily suspend online currency transfer, but that bank transfers were still accepted. In addition, OKCoin also said its bank transfers were still in operation.

The industry observers point out that Bitcoin was doing quite well in the country, but the country’s government is concerned with the currency’s lack of central monetary authority, as well as its potential use for laundering money. So far though the government has said people are free to buy Bitcoins.