China orders immediate shuttering of Bitcoin exchanges China has ordered all Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges to cease trading by the end of Friday, causing a massive drop in its value worldwide. According to leaked documents and a series of statements from those running the local exchanges, China's regulators have told the exchanges verbally that they do not have a license to …
This has been coming for a while. A fortnight ago China banned ICOs (El Reg covered it here https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/05/china_bans_cryptocurrency_ico_raisings/ ). China was always going to move towards this.
Moving currency out of the middle kingdom is a challenge (it might be illegal ? Don't quote me on that). So bitcoin was seen as a great way to cover cash in a society with very prying eyes. So of course they were going to crack down on it. China would never allow something like bitcoin to become pervasive, as they can't control it. And China isn't one to let that slide.
The thing with the Norks is that even if they did buy bitcoin, how are they going to monetise it in a big enough way to make it worthwhile. They need to move tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars a WEEK. No exchange could facilitate that and it not be noticed. Sure they could pay one off..but in today's age, with so many electronic eyes, it'd last about as long as a gnat orgasm
Bitcoin exchanges are massive targets, maybe the best strategy for cryptocurrencies is to segment their exchanges, operate in smaller areas thereby making breaches less profitable for hackers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/27/liverpool-east-london-local-currencies-making-comeback/
"Call me cynical but I'll wager a few people got filthy rich playing that currency dip!"
You're not cynical at all. This is the way everyone makes money on the markets. A work colleague who knows I have an interest asked me what would happen if the price crashed, and would it mean the end of Bitcoin. Not at all, I said. If the price drops low, the first thing people do is buy when cheap. Which causes the price to go back up. From the look of things over the last day or so this is exactly what has happened. TBH Bitcoin does this every 18 months or so, and has been for the past 5 years. Every time Forbes, the FT, etc all predict the end of the "Bubble", and it never happens. Probably because in the case of most Bubbles, when the prices plummet, the company behind them goes bust and the shares become worthless. But Bitcoin doesn't have a company behind it. It has a software algorithm and no matter what happens, that will still be there.
Cryptocurrencies are zombie assets. There is nothing to kill because they are already undead. They are, however, extremely transparent. They don't promise anything, like say, the creditworthiness of homeowners in repackaged mortgage-backed securities, for example - a point seemingly lost on Jamie Dimon, if his recent commentary is to be taken at face value.
Aww yes, JP Morgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, came out proclaiming BitCoin as a fraud. When it temporarily plummeted he and everyone in his company jumped in with both feet and bought up everything they could get their hands on. Typical banking crooks. True story .. look it up.
"Aww yes, JP Morgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, came out proclaiming BitCoin as a fraud. When it temporarily plummeted he and everyone in his company jumped in with both feet and bought up everything they could get their hands on. Typical banking crooks. True story .. look it up."
I assume the same thing happened to the £ after the Brexit Referendum result. In fact instead of waiting for a dip and taking an advantage, why not cut out the middle man? Actually cause the dip by selling under the pretense of market panic. Oh...you mean that's what already happens...?
Dimon actually called it a Ponzi scheme. He also claimed that anyone caught trading it at JP would be fired on the spot, since it's clearly well dodgy. He was alsp quite pissed that his daughter specualted in BTC and has achieved returns many times greater than his "proper" funds have.
Bear in mind that this is the same bank that ran Madoff accounts. So they had full evidence that no investments where getting made, and did.... nothing. So much nothing that they copped a few billion in fines.
So Dimon can't spot a ponzi run through his own bank, but gosh damnit, BTC is evil.
JP Morgan doesn't hold the current title for "largest corporate fine ever", having been knocked off the top spot. But I'm assured they are working hard at regaining that position.
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