Baidu Inc (百度), China’s biggest search engine, stopped accepting bitcoins after the nation’s central bank barred financial institutions from handling transactions, triggering a drop in the virtual currency.
Bitcoin fell more than 20 percent to 4,800 yuan (US$790) on BTC China, the most active online exchange where it is traded for the Chinese currency.
A Baidu Web site-hosting venture started accepting the digital money on Oct. 14 as bitcoins gained popularity in China, fueling a global rally. Prices topped US$1,000 last week, compared with about US$138 two months ago on Bitstamp, an online exchange. The People’s Bank of China said bitcoin is not a currency with “real meaning” and cannot be accorded the same legal status.
“Baidu’s Web site-acceleration platform decided to suspend bitcoin payment acceptance from Friday as recent large fluctuations in bitcoin’s value makes it unable to safeguard users’ interests,” the company said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The decision follows the Chinese government’s announcement, according to the Beijing-based company.
China’s central bank said the public is free to participate in Internet transactions, provided they take on the risk themselves. The ban on financial institutions handling bitcoins signals concerns that the digital currency may threaten capital controls and financial stability. The country became the world’s biggest bitcoin trader this year, BTC China said.
US officials have also told lawmakers such payments could be a legitimate means of exchange.
The People’s Bank of China said financial institutions and payment companies cannot give pricing in bitcoin, buy and sell the virtual currency or insure bitcoin-linked products, according to a statement on the central bank’s Web site.
“We’re happy to see the government start regulating the bitcoin exchanges,” BTC China chief executive officer Bobby Lee (李啟元) said in a telephone interview before the central bank announcement on Friday.
Regulations would be for “the good of the consumer,” he said. BTC is seeking recognition of the currency, so it can be used to buy goods and services instead of being used for speculation, he said.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS