– Bitcoin Tumbles After BTC China Halts Funding Amid Concerns PBOC About To Get Serious (ZeroHedge, April 27, 2014):
Bitcoin prices tumbled almost 15% as Chinese bitcoin exchange BTC China announced it has stopped accepting RMB deposits to user accounts from a major bank. As Coindesk reports, Management decided to proactively halt deposits from one of the country’s largest banks, China Merchants Bank, after the bank posted on its public website that it would no longer allow its customers to engage in bitcoin-related transactions, and said essentially it would require all such businesses to close their accounts. Withdrawals, of course, are allowed, but as Coindesk goes on to note, that while the PBOC’s ‘official’ policy on Bitcoin has not changed since December, this ‘pre-emptive’ move may suggest he PBOC would soon set stricter rules about how its earlier edicts should be followed.
As Coindesk reports, management decided to proactively halt deposits from one of the country’s largest banks, China Merchants Bank, after the bank posted on its public website that it would no longer allow its customers to engage in bitcoin-related transactions, and said essentially it would require all such businesses to close their accounts.
A rough translation of BTC China’s Weibo post reads:
“Due to a notice issued by China Merchants Bank, BTC China, out of consideration for user security and stabilization operations, decided to suspend the credit of accounts with RMB.
For subsequent updates, please pay attention to our website and Twitter, thank you again for your interest and support of BTC China.”
BTC China CEO Bobby Lee said his company had not yet any direct notifications from any of its banking partners, but was ready to act should such information arrive. Apart from the China Merchants Bank website posting, which did not specify any exchange by name, no other banks have stated their intentions as yet.
This followed reports last week that financial institutions were preparing to sever links with bitcoin exchanges, after closed session meetings with People’s Bank representatives.
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The PBOC itself has continued to deny that it will ban bitcoin outright, though it has not made any public statements about how it intends to restrict digital currency use in the country.
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The meetings were reportedly more grave in tone than on previous occasions, suggesting the PBOC would soon set stricter rules about how its earlier edicts should be followed. As well as preventing users from funding their bitcoin exchange accounts, the new guidelines could eventually limit their ability to withdraw from bitcoin and litecoin into yuan as well.