A public reminder that Bitcoin (BTC) and other virtual currencies “are not legal tender and have no actual value” has apparently been issued by China, as part of a stepped-up crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
Yin Youping, deputy head of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) Financial Consumer Rights Protection Bureau, stated in a local media briefing that the central bank will maintain a “high-pressure situation” and will continue to crack down on virtual currency-related transactions in the future.
Youping noted during the briefing event, which happened to be conducted during China’s “Financial Knowledge Popularization Month,” that virtual currency-related activities are nothing more than investment hype. According to Youping, the general population should raise their risk knowledge and stay away from cryptocurrency investments.
Despite the government’s continuous prosecution of the cryptocurrency business, Youping expressed optimism about the prospect of a resurgence in crypto trading operations in China.
For its part, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will collaborate with local authorities to identify traders who use offshore cryptocurrency exchanges, and it will step up attempts to prohibit trading websites, apps, and corporate channels as a countermeasure.
According to reports, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is collaborating with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to build mechanisms for monitoring and combatting the usage of virtual currencies.
As a complement to the pressures imposed by the People’s Bank of China, local governments throughout the country have begun taking proactive actions to halt crypto-related activity. Hydropower facilities in Yingjiang County have been ordered to cut off the electricity supply to crypto miners in the area, according to county officials.
Following the delisting of crypto miners from their individual grids, power plants are also required to notify the National Development and Reform Commission.
While Chinese miners continue to relocate abroad to nations with crypto-friendly rules, the country has apparently begun redirecting the electricity saved from mining to the construction of infrastructure for electric vehicles.
