Chinese Bitcoin Exchange Forced to Stop Accepting Deposits in Local Currency (Dec. 19, 2013)
Reinforcing Bitcoin’s reputation for volatility, the value of the digital currency nosedived more than 35 percent Wednesday following word that BTC China, one of the country’s largest Bitcoin exchanges, was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency renminbi.
Although BTC China has had “to cease renminbi-account charging functions,” according to the exchange, it said it would continue operating and that deposits denominated in bitcoins, as well as renminbi withdrawals, would be unaffected, according to a New York Times report.
Chinese officials earlier this month banned financial institutions in the country from using Bitcoin as currency. The government agencies, which include the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission, banned the virtual currency “to protect the property rights and interests of the public, to protect the legal status of the Yuan currency, to prevent money laundering risks and maintain financial stability,” according to a translated statement on the PBOC’s Website.
The digital currency’s value on Wednesday was down to US$540 on the Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox, after peaking well over $1,000 earlier this month. As of this writing, Bitcoin’s value was approaching $700.
