China’s biggest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC, 中國工商銀行), yesterday said it has banned activities related to trading in bitcoin, joining at least 10 other Chinese banks participating in a government crackdown on virtual currencies.
Bitcoin, invented in the wake of the global financial crisis by a computer guru, is a form of cryptography-based e-money that can be stored either virtually or on a user’s hard drive, and offers a largely anonymous payment system.
Speculators drove China’s bitcoin prices into the financial stratosphere last year, peaking at 7,588.88 yuan (US$1,224 at current exchange rates) in November, before they crashed following moves by exchanges, financial institutions and the government to rein in the virtual currency.
“From this date, any institution or individual must not use accounts set up with our bank for the deposit and withdrawal ... and transfer of funds for Bitcoin and Litecoin trading,” ICBC said in a statement on its Web site.
Litecoin is another virtual currency.
The move aimed to “protect the property rights and interests of the public, prevent money laundering risks as well as to safeguard the status of the renminbi as the legal currency,” ICBC said, referring to the yuan.
ICBC threatened to suspend and close bank accounts if clients failed to comply with the new rules.
Earlier this week, China’s main bitcoin exchanges pledged to practice “self discipline” including tracking suspicious trading and preventing money laundering.
Five markets, including China’s largest BTC China, said they would halt risky activities such as margin trading and short-selling, and make regular reports to the government, according to a joint statement posted on Tuesday.
In its annual financial stability report released late last month, China’s central bank labelled bitcoin “a tool for speculation” and warned against risks the e-money could pose to capital flows as well as its possible use in illegal activities including drug dealing and money laundering.
Last month, the central bank instructed banks and third-party payment providers to “completely cut off the capital chain” for bitcoin trading, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
The central bank has so far made no public statement to confirm the action, but at least 11 banks have ceased providing services related to bitcoin.
The moves have hurt the value of bitcoin in China. Yesterday afternoon, bitcoin was trading at 2,781.97 yuan each on BTC China, down 11 percent from April 25 when banks began announcing the bans.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort