Virtual currency "two heavens": in full swing abroad, orderly clearing domestic

The development of virtual currency at home and abroad is experiencing "two days of ice and fire."

Recently, a number of Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved for trading. In the international market, the enthusiasm for virtual currency trading has been ignited again. Bitcoin once rose by 6%, breaking through the highest point in history, reaching a maximum of US$66,998.

On October 20, the U.S.'s first ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF BITO approved by the SEC was officially traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Bitcoin futures ETF applied by asset management giant VanEck was also approved by the SEC. The Bitcoin futures ETF will It will be launched after October 23; in addition, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF launched by the crypto asset management agency Valkyrie Investments plans to be listed on the Nasdaq this Friday.

JPMorgan Chase strategists stated that it is not the enthusiasm for the first Bitcoin futures ETF in the United States that is driving the Bitcoin price to a record high, but inflation concerns. For its part, the launch of BITO is unlikely to trigger more new capital into Bitcoin. Since September, there has been a trend from gold ETFs to Bitcoin funds.

Although virtual currency investment is still popular abroad, it shows a very different development trend from the domestic situation. On the one hand, ten ministries and commissions including the Central Bank jointly issued the "Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading Hype", and listed virtual currency-related business activities as illegal financial activities; on the other hand, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments require comprehensive rectification of virtual currencies. "Mining" activities, comprehensively sort out and investigate virtual currency "mining" projects, prohibit investment in new projects, and speed up the orderly exit of existing projects.

According to a reporter from the Securities Times, Bitcoin mines in Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Sichuan, Xinjiang and other places have basically been closed since May. Previously, the key mines investigated were basically located in the central and western provinces. Recently, the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have also publicly investigated the virtual currency "mining" behavior.

Recently, Zhejiang Province has launched a joint special rectification operation to comprehensively crack down on the use of public resources to participate in virtual currency mining and trading. According to the "Zhejiang Netcom", in early September this year, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government made special arrangements to rectify the use of public resources to participate in virtual currency mining and trading activities, targeting the use of party and government agencies, state-owned enterprises and scientific research institutions, etc. Public resources of the unit participate in the “mining” behavior, and special rectification work is carried out across the province.

The special operation conducted a comprehensive screening of 4699 IP addresses suspected of participating in virtual currency mining in Zhejiang Province, and sorted out 184 IP addresses of 77 units that were suspected of using public resources to engage in mining activities. The special inspection team formed by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Provincial Commission for Cyberspace Affairs, the Provincial Communications Administration, the Provincial Public Security Department, and the Zhejiang Sub-center of the National Security Center has focused on 119 out of 20 units through remote monitoring, on-site inspections, and technical inspections. IP addresses involved more than 10 virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tuya Coin, and Ergo Coin. A group of people who violated disciplines were investigated and the illegal proceeds were recovered.

The Jiangsu Provincial Communications Administration recently released a work dynamic saying that it recently comprehensively investigated the virtual currency "mining" behavior in the province, and monitored that the export traffic of mining pools carrying out virtual currency activities reached 136.77 Mbps, and the total number of Internet IP addresses participating in "mining" was 4,502. It consumes more than 10PH/s of computing power and 260,000 kWh/day of energy.

Take Ethereum and Bitcoin, which have more virtual currency "mining" activities in Jiangsu Province, as examples. The cities with more "mining" are Suzhou, Xuzhou, and Nanjing. From the perspective of the ownership and nature of IP addresses, about 21% of the people belonging to party and government agencies, universities, and enterprises were invaded and used to conduct virtual currency "mining".

The Jiangsu Provincial Communications Administration stated that it will continue to carry out virtual currency "mining" situation analysis in the next step, and further cooperate with relevant departments to form a "multi-dimensional, multi-level" disposal system, dispose of relevant websites and mobile applications in accordance with the law, and cooperate Do a good job in tracing and cracking down on illegal virtual currency transactions.

Under multiple blows, the virtual currency business in China is undergoing a "great retreat." Around the National Day, more than 30 currency-related institutions have announced that in response to regulatory requirements, they will close the service business for Chinese users. Among them, the well-known trading platform OKEX stated that it will continue to maintain the policy of withdrawing from the mainland China market and will not set up offices and teams in mainland China. Binance stated that it will delist the renminbi trading zone on December 31, 2021, and will also check mainland users and switch to a cash-only mode. Bitmain will stop shipping to mainland China on October 11.

“Zhejiang is a major energy importing province. Virtual currency mining consumes huge amounts of electricity. The rapid upgrade of mining hardware and fierce competition in computing power have brought a lot of energy consumption, which runs counter to the province’s carbon peak and carbon neutral goal. At the same time, virtual currency hype transactions Disrupting the economic and financial order brings the risks of illegal transactions, money laundering, financial fraud and other illegal and criminal activities, and seriously infringes on the safety of the people's property." The Zhejiang notice stated that this represents the official attitude towards virtual currency-related businesses to a certain extent.

At the third "Bund Financial Summit" held recently, Nobel Prize winner Michael SPENCE stated that the blockchain itself is a very useful technology, especially in the supply chain can play a huge role. But in addition, the blockchain-based digital currency currently seen is not stable. It is not an effective means of payment or an effective means of storing value. Its main purpose seems to be for those who conduct cross-border illegal transactions. Staff provide tools.