Beijing News: Virtual currency speculation shows signs of rise

Beijing News reporter: Cheng Weimiao and Zhang Yanxin

Source: Beijing News

In the past two weeks, regulators in Shanghai, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, and Xi'an have successively "bright swords" on virtual currencies. In this context, the price of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin has plunged; industry insiders believe that the rectification will make the blockchain industry "de-fake and save the truth" and become the infrastructure of the next generation of the Internet.

A month ago, blockchain technology took the air, and the long-lost currency circle took the opportunity to move, and the virtual currency hype showed signs of rising again, which led to regulatory rectification.

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In the past two weeks, Shanghai, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen and many other regulatory agencies have "virtual swords" on virtual currencies, cleared virtual currency mining companies, or launched special rectification of virtual currency-related activities. Beijing police also cracked down BISS fraud on illegal digital currency exchange. This is another large-scale "encirclement" of virtual currencies by regulators following the ban on ICOs (initial coin offerings) in September 2017.

During the same period, Binance and TRON's Weibo were blocked, and the cryptocurrency exchange QBTC announced that it would gradually shut down user services in mainland China. Bitcoin dropped below $ 7,000 and ended at $ 6723 at 17:00 on November 25. An investor revealed that in his investment group, the number of enquiries has decreased recently and selling pressure has increased.

Industry insiders remind that currently there are very few blockchain technologies that have actually landed, and there is no "killer" application. If some projects publicize that they have landed or have actual application scenarios, they must still be vigilant.

Intensive supervision in many places to rectify virtual currency activities

On November 11, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a notice saying that the joint inspection team of the autonomous region rushed to some union cities to conduct a joint inspection on the cleanup and rectification of virtual currency "mining" enterprises. The main content of the inspection was to find out that it had nothing to do with the real economy. Virtual currency “mining” companies that use the “big data industry” as a package to enjoy preferential policies on local electricity prices, land, and taxation.

Three days later, on November 14, many media reported that Shanghai would complete the mapping of virtual currency trading venues by November 22. On November 22, the central bank's Shanghai headquarters website announced that the Shanghai Municipal Financial Stability Joint Conference Office and the central bank's Shanghai headquarters united Shanghai and other relevant departments at the two levels to conduct special rectification of virtual currency-related activities in Shanghai. The problem companies that provided publicity, drainage and other services for overseas virtual currency trading platforms registered immediately rectified and withdrew. The next step will continue to continuously monitor the virtual currency business activities within its jurisdiction. Once found, it will be disposed of immediately, and early and small in order to prevent problems before they occur.

At the same time, Shenzhen and Beijing have also announced related remediation and remediation work. On November 22, the Shenzhen Local Financial Supervision Administration website announced that the recent use of blockchain technology to promote virtual currency speculation has seen some illegal activities show signs of resurgence. Shenzhen Internet financial risks and other special rectification work The office of the leading group will conduct investigations and obtain evidence for illegal activities, and will be dealt with seriously if found.

On the evening of the 22nd, a reporter from the Beijing News learned from relevant departments that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Supervision and the Business Management Department of the Central Bank adhered to the principle of "seeking to show up" for illegal financial activities and continued to maintain a high-pressure regulatory situation. The report also said that the Beijing police recently cracked down on the fraud of the illegal digital currency exchange BISS and arrested dozens of suspects.

On November 25, the official WeChat public account of the central bank's Shanghai headquarters re-released an article "Blockchain ≠ Virtual Currency: Develop Blockchain Technology and Away from the Hype of Virtual Currency" prompting risks. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Xi'an Branch of the Central Bank also reminded investors that they need to guard against virtual currency fraud.

This is not the first time that the currency circle has encountered "encirclement and suppression". In September 2017, the seven departments including the central bank issued the “Announcement on Preventing the Financing Risks of Token Issuance”. The announcement clearly states that ICOs are illegal financial activities, which severely disrupted the financial order and suspended all domestic token financing projects. At the same time, all domestic digital currency exchanges were ordered to close within a time limit. As soon as the announcement came out, a number of domestic virtual currency exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, and OKEx, went abroad.

Behind Rectification: Signs of Virtual Coin Hype Rise

Regulatory authorities in various places pointed out in the announcement that recently, with the promotion and promotion of blockchain technology, virtual currency hype has shown signs of rising. Some companies have organized virtual currency transactions in China in the name of "blockchain innovation"; "Scene landing" and other reasons, issuing "XX currency", "XX chain" and other forms of virtual currency, publishing white papers, fictional use of ecology, raising funds or virtual currency assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum; ICO projects, virtual currency trading platforms, etc. provide publicity, drainage, agency trading services, etc., and even some illegal institutions have used the name of the central bank to issue or promote legal digital currencies, using the "statutory digital currency" gimmick to defraud investors' money.

A reporter from the Beijing News recently discovered that a website called "DCEPAPI" appeared on the market. The webpage reads: "DCEP payment interface is about to be opened." "Please continue to pay attention to us. There will be heavy news." × 天 "and so on, but there is no information such as the organizer's background or contact information on the website. The "DCEP" is an electronic currency that is being developed by the central bank.

On November 13, the central bank issued a rumor statement stating that no legal digital currency (DC / EP) was issued and no asset trading platform was authorized to trade. The statutory digital currency of the central bank is still in the process of research and testing. The "DC / EP" or "DCEP" traded on the market are illegal digital currencies. The launch time of online legal digital currency is inaccurate information, which may involve fraud and pyramid schemes. The public is requested to raise their awareness of risk, not to believe in credulity, and to prevent damage to their interests.

The Beijing News reporter saw in the relevant blockchain post on November 25 that there are still issuers promoting virtual currencies. As one user posted, "Radarcoin has grown on the shoulders of Bitcoin and Ripple and is a virtual currency with application value."

According to Sun Yulin, an analyst at Nuoyi Finance and Nuoyi Think Tank, after Nuoyi Finance released its research report "Renminbi 3.0-Digital Currency of the People's Bank of China: Operational Framework and Technical Analysis" on October 24, some institutions and individuals in the market have also been discovered The report was used in a misleading and misleading way to engage in illegal speculation in virtual currency. Zero One Finance has issued an announcement to clarify that the report does not contain any information on the issuance and trading of illegal virtual currencies. It is a fraudulent or fraudulent financial consumer to misinterpret and tamper with the report for the issuance, sales, trading and related activities of virtual currencies Illegal behavior.

Changyong, the founder of Zhimi University, also told the Beijing News reporter that the virtual currency, which is controlled by a centralized organization or individual, uses multiple levels of profit, only earns no compensation, and does nothing to do things. The so-called "model currency". These regardless of whether blockchain technology or virtual currency is used are not allowed by national laws and should be severely cracked down.

Cryptocurrency prices dive, project parties and investors wait and see

Regulations have been heard one after another, and the prices of virtual currencies have "dived." On November 22, the price of bitcoin fell below $ 6,800, and the decline in a single day expanded to 13%. At 17 o'clock on November 25, it was $ 6723, a new low of nearly six months. In terms of other digital currencies, according to data from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, as of 17:00 on November 25th, Ether was reported at US $ 136.05 and Ripple was reported at US $ 0.2122, with a decline of more than 8% in the past 24 hours.

With strong supervision, the official Weibo of Binance and TRON were blocked on November 13th and 15th in domestic virtual currency exchanges. The current search results show that the account has been complained of violating laws and regulations and the Weibo Community Convention, the specific content can no longer be viewed.

Sun Yulin told the Beijing News reporter that the main entrances for domestic investors to sell coins are Binance and other exchanges. The servers of these exchanges are basically overseas. There is no way to stop the servers. However, trading institutions generally have offices in China. location. The focus of supervision may be to control the popularity of speculative coins to some extent by managing the social media of the exchange.

The Beijing News reporter also noted that on November 23, the cryptocurrency exchange QBTC issued an announcement saying that the QBTC main body and all its businesses will be relocated to Ukraine, and that services for users in mainland China and Hong Kong, including registration, Trading, KYC and OTC. The announcement also stated that the exchange temporarily closed currency trading services at 21:10 on November 23.

Zhang Mingjing, a partner of Lianxing Capital, which focuses on blockchain investment, said that the country is currently encouraging the development of blockchain technology and applications. Although virtual currency relies on blockchain technology, many projects raise funds illegally under the guise of blockchain. "We generally only invest in equity projects in the blockchain." Blockchain is not equivalent to speculating on virtual currencies, especially some air currencies that have no business substance. The policy will be strictly tightened and suppressed. Any illegal fundraising under the guise of a blockchain is challenging the policy red line.

A person from the virtual currency project told the Beijing News reporter that the industry is now basically waiting and is watching to see how the project will be managed by the main body overseas, and how to define project fraud and money. An investor revealed that one of his investment groups recently asked for a decrease in volume. "Everyone is anxious to throw their coins out, and they have no confidence in whether they can continue to hold them."

Blockchain technology has few landings, investors should be vigilant

Regulatory announcements in various places have reminded to be vigilant against illegal financial activities and beware of being deceived.

"At present, we have not seen a killer blockchain application." Sun Yulin said that there are still few applications of blockchain on the ground. If some projects publicize that they have already landed or have actual application scenarios, they must still be vigilant. Investors should not blindly follow the trend and speculate in coins. The fluctuations are too great and the risks are too great. Beware of the legal risks of virtual currency transactions and beware of being deceived.

Zhang Mingjing also said that the current exploration of the blockchain is still in its early stages. The application of the blockchain must be steadily promoted, and the underlying technology development has yet to mature. In the future, countries will increase investment and layout in this regard.

"Blockchain technology is neutral, and decentralized cryptocurrency is an important technological and economic innovation, but it is still in the experimental stage and the risk is too great. It should not be the object of public investment and speculate on related investments. The behavior should be regulated. "Chang Yong said.

Regarding the development trend of the blockchain, industry practitioner and founder of Pipen Technology Jiang Xuxian said that it is foreseeable that after this wave of supervision, some projects without value support will be eliminated by big waves and sands, which will bring the industry in the short term. Greater downward pressure. However, in the long run, some value projects that really do technology research and development services will settle down and gradually gain social recognition and attention. Instead, they will lead the industry to achieve more breakthrough development in counterfeiting.

Sun Yulin believes that the future direction of blockchain technology is to develop into industrial blockchain, and to see if blockchain technology can really serve enterprises and society. Blockchain technology has its own financial attributes, and it may play a greater role in some financial application scenarios (such as supply chain finance).

Jiang Yujie, a partner of Xintian Venture Capital, said that the first development of the blockchain is to solve the underlying breakthroughs in technology, and the second is to find applicable industrial landing scenarios.

"This rectification will remove the bubble from the blockchain industry, return to health, and create more opportunities for more blockchain technology entrepreneurs to empower the development of the industry." Zhang Mingjing said.

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