A large number of cryptocurrency-related accounts on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform were blocked over the weekend when Beijing cracked down on bitcoin trading and mining.
Further measures are expected in China, including linking illegal crypto activities directly to the country’s criminal law, according to analysts and a financial regulator.
Last month, China’s state councilor cabinet pledged to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading days after three industry bodies banned cryptocurrency-related payments and financial services and stepped up campaigns against cryptocurrencies. Over the weekend, a number of widespread crypto-related Weibo accounts were denied access, with reports that each account was “in violation of laws and regulations.”
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“It’s a judgment day for CryptoKOL,” wrote a Weibo Bitcoin commentator or prominent opinion leader (KOL), calling herself “Dr. Bitcoin Mini”. His main account was also blocked on Saturday.
“The government is making it clear that there cannot be a Chinese version of Elon Musk in the Chinese cryptocurrency market,” said Winston Ma, assistant professor at New York University School of Law, referring to the Tesla founder and cryptocurrency enthusiast.
Ma, the author of The Digital War, also hopes that China’s Supreme Court will soon publish a judicial interpretation that could link crypto mining and trading companies to China’s criminal law. That view was shared by a financial regulator, who said that such an interpretation would remove the legal ambiguity that has failed to specifically identify bitcoin trading companies as “illegal operations”.
All regulations against cryptocurrencies in China have so far been published by administrative authorities. The Weibo freeze comes as Chinese media intensifies reports on crypto trading.
The official Xinhua news agency has published articles highlighting a number of scams related to cryptocurrencies.
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State broadcaster CCTV has said that cryptocurrency is a lightly regulated asset that is widely used for black market trafficking, money laundering, arms smuggling, gambling, and drug trafficking. The crackdown also comes as China’s central bank intensifies testing of its digital currency.
